San Benedetto is a late-

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

architecture,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church and former

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery in the city

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The church facade faces Via Crociferi, parallels across via San Benedetto the former-Jesuit church of San Francesco Borgia, and both are about a block south along Crociferi from the church and convent of San Giuliano. Entrance to church and monastery appear to be through Piazza Asmundo #9 near the apse of the church.

History and description

Dedicated to

St. Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orient ...

, a first church at the site was completed in April 1334, endowed by the noblewoman Alemanna Lumella. However, like most buildings in town, it was razed by the

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7. ...

; only 5 nuns survived the disaster. The church was rebuilt by 1714, but construction of the monastery continued until 1763.

Giovanni Battista Vaccarini Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (3 February 1702 – 11 March 1768) was a Sicilians, Sicilian architect, notable for his work in the Sicilian Baroque style in his homeland during the period of massive rebuilding following the 1693 Sicily earthquake, ea ...

was one of the main architects. The church is part of a monastic complex including also the Badia Maggiore and the Badia Minore, connected by a covered arch (''Arco delle Monache Benedettinne'') over the road, allowing for the cloistered nuns to cross. The church was also damaged by bombing in World War II and later restored by the architect Armand Dillon. Catane San Benedetto2

The front of the church is preceded by an elaborate iron fence, across the street a wide pedestrian alley winds downhill through steps. The tall facade is flanked by pilasters, and decorated with various statues. The broken pediment of the tympanum has two reclining allegorical female statues representing ''Fortitude'' and ''Temperance''. In the center high above the portal is a statue of the Virgin Mary. The entrance door, in wood, has panels with scenes from the life of St Benedict. Its most famous feature is the Angel's Staircase (Italian: ''Scalinata dell'Angelo''), a marble entrance stair decorated with statues of angels and surrounded by a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

railings. The interior, with a single nave, is richly decorated with stucco and frescoes, including works by

Matteo Desiderato Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escen ...

. The vault and semi-dome were frescoed in 1726-1729 by

Giovanni Tuccari Giovanni Tuccari (1667–1743) was an Italian painter during the Baroque period, active in Sicily. Tuccari was born in Messina. He was the son and pupil of Antonio Tuccari, an obscure painter. He excelled as a battle painter. He died of the ...

with depictions of the ''Life of Saint Benedict'' and six ''Allegories surrounding the Triumph of Saint Benedict''. The Saint is represented in his traditional iconography, in a festive and cheerful scenario. The high altar is in polychrome marble with

hardstone Hardstone is a non-scientific term, mostly encountered in the decorative arts or archaeology, that has a similar meaning to semi-precious stones, or gemstones. Very hard building stones, such as granite, are not included in the term in this sense ...

intarsia Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The start of the practice dates from before the seventh century AD. The technique of intarsia inlays sections of wood (at times with contrasting ivory or bone, or mother-of-pear ...

and bronze panels. The altarpieces inside the church depict an ''Immaculate Conception'' by Sebastiano Lo Monaco and a ''St Benedict'' by M. Rapisardi (1822–1886). It once contained an altarpiece depicting ''St Benedict'' by the Flemish artist

Guglielmo Borremans Guglielmo Borremans or Guglielmo Fiamingo (1670–1744) was a Flemish painter whose documented career took principally place in Italy, in particular Naples, Cosenza and Sicily. Here he was one of the pre-eminent late-Baroque fresco painters of th ...

and a ''Guardian Angel'' by Matteo Desiderati.Descrizione di Catania e delle cose notevoli nei dintorni de essa
edited by Francesco Paternò Castello, published by Pietro Giuntini, Catania (1841); page 120. The church is open on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (last entrance).

Sources

References

*http://www.officineculturali.net/benedettine.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedetto Catania Roman Catholic churches completed in 1713 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

Benedetto Benedetto is a common Italian name, the equivalent of the English name Benedict. Notable people named Benedetto include: People with the given name * Benedetto Accolti (disambiguation), several people * Benedetto Aloi (1935–2011), American ...

Baroque architecture in Catania 1713 establishments in Italy