Monastero di San Nicolò l'Arena (Catania)

The monastery in the west of the city with the lava flow from 1669.

Aerial view from the east (yellow: Renaissance building).

View from the south (1846).

The former Benedictine monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena in the west of the old town of Catania has been part of the Unesco World Heritage Site of the Late Baroque Cities of Val di Noto since 2002 . It is considered the largest monastery complex in Sicily with the largest church on the island. The convent building now houses parts of the University of Catania .

Beginnings in Nicolosi

The Benedictines , called to Catania after the Arab domination over Sicily , founded settlements on the slopes of Mount Etna . At today's village Nicolosi (700 m above sea level) a hospice was first mentioned in 1156 and in 1359 a priory called San Nicolò l'Arena, subordinate to the Abbey of Santa Maria di Licodia . It was dedicated to St. Nicholas , whose bones had been transferred from Myra to Bari . The nickname l'Arena comes from the sand-like sedimentary rock rena rossa (Latin arena = sand), which was exposed to the heat of the lava flows . In 1506 the Benedictines of Sicily joined the Congregation of Montecassino .

The renaissance building

Restored oldest part of the convent building : west cloister with marble fountain.

As a result, the monastery was relocated from Nicolosi to Catania, to which the danger from brigands , outbreaks of Mount Etna and earthquakes as well as the harsher climate of the Little Ice Age are said to have contributed. The chiefs retained the title of Abbot of Santa Maria di Licodia and San Nicolò l'Arena. As the location of the new monastery, the area around today's Piazza Machiavelli in the west of the city was chosen, then the area called Cipriana (from Cypris = Venus ) a little further north . Construction began in 1558. In the following decades, the square convent building was built around the marble-adorned (today western) cloister with a tower-like belvedere and a small church. First the basements of the north and west wings were completed. The covered mosaic floors and frescoes of Roman houses have now been exposed again. The Roman architect Giulio Lasso († 1612), who was active in Sicily and whose best-known work is the Quattro Canti in Palermo , was brought in to plan the cloister .

The Contini project

210 m long south facade of the convent building with 42 balconies .

When the lava flowed around Catania into the sea during the eruption of Mount Etna in 1669, it only stopped at the west and north facade of the convent building. This required extensive uncovering and repair work. The rich abbey was not satisfied with that: in 1686, the Tuscan architect Giovan Battista Contini (1641–1723) came to Catania. She approved his project for a new church, which is said to have been influenced by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Basilica of Santa Giustina in Padua . Contini's plans, the realization of which were immediately started, also envisaged an enlargement of the convent building to four times the size. This would have created a complex with a symmetrical floor plan , similar to that of the Royal Escorial residence near Madrid .

After the lava, the earthquake

But already in 1693 the earthquake in the Val di Noto (historical administrative unit in the southeast of Sicily) destroyed Catania to the ground. Like most of the residents, two thirds of the Benedictine Fathers died . The survivors began to move the monastery to a lava-free new location called Monte Vergine (Jungfrauenberg) between today's streets Sangiuliano, Santa Maddalena, Plebiscito and Bambino, but the Ministry of War objected to it because the construction of a royal palace was planned at this point . Therefore, in 1700, work on the old location was resumed.

The late baroque monastery

Novices garden on the lava bench and dome of the church.

In order to enable the planned expansion of the monastery on the lava bank in the north, the convent building was raised by installing a filled mezzanine above the basement. A second cloister was built to the east. The east and south facades were built under the direction of Antonino Amato. While Brydone compared these facades with their abundant sculptural jewelry in 1770 with those of Versailles , in 1846 Bertucci mockingly spoke of “stile arabo-moderno”. The work on the church, which had been interrupted after 1693, was also resumed, whereby the nave was completed first and received a temporary closure.

1738–1743, Giovan Battista Vaccarini (1702–1768) began to build communal and representative rooms such as the antefectory, the large refectory , the museum and the library room on the lavabank instead of the originally planned third cloister . From 1746 Francesco Battaglia (1701–1788) continued to build, including the bridge that led from the upper floor of the convent building to the monastery garden on the lava bank in the west. The unfinished church, however, partially collapsed in 1755 because the vaults were incorrectly constructed. Now Giuseppe Palazzotto (1702–1764) took over the construction management.

Riedesel wrote in 1767: “They started building a church which, like everything the priests undertake, will cost a lot of money without taste; and the building is so badly managed that a vault has already collapsed, regardless of the ceiling on it. (...) The monastery is a terrible building, terrible because of its size and bad taste. "

Organ with 3000 pipes .

About the organ by Donato Del Piano (1704–1785), which was inaugurated in the same year , Goethe reports that an inconspicuous monk on the "magnificent instrument" rattled and thundered the church "down to the last corner with the slightest breath and violent tones".

1766-1784 the monastery occupied the last great Baroque architect of Catania, the Poland Stefano Ittar (1724-1790). He designed the semi-elliptical building backdrop in front of the church, which enabled the people to take part in major religious festivals (Piazza Dante), and completed the common rooms begun by Vaccarini. Above all, however, he completed the church, which Borch described as one of the most beautiful in Italy in 1777, while the convent building testified to a lack of good taste. At that time the church was still missing the dome that Ittar put on it from 1778–1780.

In the 1790s, Battaglia's son Antonino rebuilt the monumental staircase in the east of the convent building, which was decorated with stucco reliefs . His cousin Carmelo Battaglia tackled the facade of the church, which had been modeled on that of the Lateran Basilica in Rome by the anonymous winner of an architectural competition . Yet it remained a monumental torso . In the 1840s, with the help of German astronomers, a 39 m long sundial ( " Meridiana " ) was embedded in the floor of the transept of the church. As the last architect, Mario Musumeci changed the eastern cloister of the monastery, in the center of which a neo-Gothic "Caffeaos" ( coffee house ) was built.

Secularization and new uses

Antique relief with the blinding of Polyphemus in the museum of the monastery ( Jean-Pierre Houël , 1784).

According to Derek Beales , San Nicolò l'Arena (like Melk , Vierzehnheiligen , Sankt Gallen or Sankt Blasien ) belonged to the monastery buildings of the 18th century, "that dazzle the observer with their grandeur, their beauty and their audacity". The Catanesian monastery was intended for the care of nobles, who excluded the majority right from the inheritance of the family property. The splendor of the buildings should reflect their social standing . With internal dimensions of 105 m in length, 71 m in width and 62 m in height (dome), the church is the largest in Sicily. The convent building of 210 by 130 m resembles a royal palace, although it was only inhabited by about 20 to 40 priests . How well they lived is shown by the monumental kitchen adorned with ceramic tiles and the associated underground storage rooms (from which a shaft leads down through the lava to the Amenano river, which was covered in 1669).

The Brydone quoted above quipped that Catania's “fat Benedictine monks” were “determined to make sure of a paradise, at least in this world, if not in the other”.

In defense of the Fathers was accompanied found that many of them the sciences , such as the archeology , devoted. The convent had its material base in latifundia with thousands of workers. In 1846 he achieved a profit of 82,500 ducats , which corresponds to 284 kg of gold with a far higher purchasing power than today. Such an institution based on the prerogatives of birth could not survive the age of revolution .

Basement: DISUM library.

On his second journey to Sicily in 1862 , Giuseppe Garibaldi had his headquarters in the monastery for a short time. Four years later, this, like thousands of other religious institutions, was secularized in the newly established Kingdom of Italy . It was declared an art monument and left to the city of Catania. Abbot Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet became archbishop and cardinal . A barracks , a technical institute, a grammar school , an astrophysical observatory and a geodynamic laboratory moved into the building complex . In 1977 it passed into the possession of the University of Catania, with the exception of the church . In the 1990s, a restoration and conversion project was carried out by Giancarlo De Carlo . Today the seven sections of the DISUM (Department of Humanistic Sciences ) and the Biblioteche Riunite "Civica e A. Ursino Recupero" have their seat in the former monastery . The renovation of the church dome was completed in 2012.

The former convent building can be freely entered, rooms closed to the public during guided tours. The church and its roof terraces are also accessible. The former collections of the Benedictines are now part of the holdings of the Museo civico in the Castello Ursino .

gallery

Idealplan (1704, copy from 1835).

Planned facade of the church (1774).

Executed lower part.

Dome and bell tower .

Inside of the dome (height 62 m).

Main nave (length 105 m).

Transept (width 71 m): sundial .

Chapel not built (1789).

South facade with main portal (1907).

Monumental staircase (1835).

Ideal plan of a cloister (1835).

Library room .

Anterefectory .

Kitchen with aedicule and ceramic tiles .

Storage rooms under the kitchen.

"Caffeaos" ( coffee house ).

literature

(Johann Hermann von Riedesel :) Journey through Sicily and Greater Greece . Orell, Geßner, Füeßlin and Comp. , Zurich 1771, p. 103 f. ( Digitized version ).
Patrick Brydone: A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (…) W. Strahan, T. Cadell, London 1773, Volume 1, pp. 134-137 ( digitized version ).
Michel-Jean comte de Borch : Lettres sur la Sicile & sur l'Ile de Malthe . Frères Reycends, Turin 1782, 1st volume, pp. 73-78 ( digitized version ).
Jean-Pierre Houël : Voyage pittoresque des isles de Sicile, de Malte et de Lipari (...) Imprimerie de Monsieur , Paris 1784, 2nd volume, p. 134 f., Plates 136 f. ( Digitized version ).
Out of my life. From Goethe . Second section, second part, Cotta, Stuttgart and Tübingen 1817, p. 303 f. ( Digitized version ).
Francesco Ferrara: Storia di Catania sino alla fine del secolo XVIII con la descrizione degli antichi monumenti ancora esistenti e dello stato presente della città. Catania 1829, pp. 552-555, 568-572 ( digitized ).
Jacques-Ignace Hittorf, Louis Zanth: Architecture Moderne de la Sicile (…) Paul Renouard, Paris 1835 ( digitized version ), pp. 17, 40–42, plates 36–40.
Mario Musumeci: Opere archeologiche ed artistiche. 1st volume, Reale Ospizio di Beneficenza, Catania 1845, pp. 256-259 ( digitized version ).
Francesco-di-Paola Bertucci: Guida del Monastero dei PP. Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Musumeci-Papale, Catania 1846 ( digitized version ).
Matteo Gaudioso: L'abbazia di S. Nicolò l'Arena di Catania. In: Archivio Storico per la Sicilia Orientale, 25/1929, 2 f., Pp. 199–243.
Vito Librando: Francesco Battaglia , architetto del XVIII secolo. In: Cronache di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte (Catania), 2/1963, pp. 129–154.
Gaetano Gangi: Il Barocco nella Sicilia Orientale. De Luca, Roma 1964.
Vittorio Consoli (ed.): Enciclopedia di Catania. 3 volumes, Tringale, Catania 1987.
Giancarlo De Carlo : Un Progetto per Catania. Il recupero del Monastero di San Nicolò l'Arena per l'Università. Sagep, Genova 1988, ISBN 88-7058-285-X ( digitized ).
Antonino Germanà Di Stefano: S. Nicolò l'Arena di Catania: Il monastero e il tempio. Co.ESSE, Catania 1991.
Roberto Patricolo, Francesco Saverio Brancato, Giovanna Fiducia: Giulio Lasso : L'Architetto del Teatro del Sole. Istituto storico siciliano, Palermo 1991.
Pietro Calì: Il nucleo centrale nel monastero di S. Nicolò l'Arena a Catania: considerazioni sulle fasi costruttive. In: Quaderni del Dipartimento Patrimonio Architettonico e Urbanistico, Università degli Studi di Reggio Calabria , 2/1992, pp. 120–126.
Giuseppe Dato, Giuseppe Pagnano: Stefano Ittar : un architetto polacco a Catania. In: Lèmbasi: Archivio storico ( Militello in Val di Catania ), 1/1995, pp. 85-104.
Enzo Boschi, Emanuela Guidoboni: Catania terremoti e lave: dal mondo antico alla fine del Novecento. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia , Roma 2001, ISBN 88-7794-267-3 .
Derek Beales : Prosperity and Plunder, European Catholic Monasteries in the Age of Revolution, 1650-1815. Cambridge University Press , 2003, ISBN 0-521-59090-6 , pp. 138, 294.
Rosa G. Caponetto et al. : Quattro studi sulla chiesa di San Nicolò l'Arena: Indagini storico-costruttive ( Documenti, 27). Dipartimento di Architettura e Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Catania 2004, ISBN 88-901663-0-4 .
Caterina F. Carocci, Cesare Tocci (ed.): Sicurezza e conservazione degli edifici storici monumentali: La chiesa di San Nicolò l'Arena a Catania. Gangemi, Roma 2004, ISBN 978-88-4929-008-0 .
Antonino Leonardi: La cucina e il suo ventre. Guide to the Museo della fabbrica del Monastero dei Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Maimone, Catania 2005, ISBN 88-7751-226-1 .
Eugenio Magnano di San Lio: Giovan Battista Vaccarini , architetto siciliano del Settecento. Lombardi, Siracusa (2008), ISBN 978-88-7260-171-6 , Volume 1, pp. 336-357.
Stefano Piazza: Le città tardobarocche del Val di Noto nella World Heritage List dell'UNESCO. Regione Siciliana, Palermo 2008 ( digitized version), pp. 127–129.
Luciano Buono, Giovanni Paolo Di Stefano: Donato Del Piano e l'organo dei Benedettini di Catania. Associazione culturale Giuseppe Serassi, Guastalla 2013, ISBN 978-88-9072-722-1 .
Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-8993-027-4 .
Francesco Mannino (ed.): Breve storia del Monastero dei Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Maimone, Catania 2015, ISBN 978-88-7751-371-7 ( digitized version ).
Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena (IV). Il completamento del monastero e della chiesa (from 1766 alla confisca post-unitaria). In: Agorà, Periodico di Cultura Siciliana (Catania), 57/2016, pp. 66–71 ( digitized version ).
Francesca Aiello: La biblioteca dei Benedettini di san Nicolò l'Arena a Catania: dalle carte d'archivio alla collezione libraria. Ledizioni, Catania 2019, ISBN 978-88-5526-119-7 .

Videos

Officine Culturali: A come Avventura al Monasteri dei Benedettini (Italian). 9 min ( video on YouTube ).
Vivi Catania. Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolò L'Arena, Catania (mute). 14 min ( video on YouTube ).

Web links

Commons : Monastero di San Nicolò l'Arena (Catania) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Officine Culturali: Guided tours (Italian / English) ( digitized ).

Individual evidence

^ Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 19–94.
↑ Stefano Piazza: Le città tardobarocche del Val di Noto nella World Heritage List dell'UNESCO. Regione Siciliana, Palermo 2008 ( digitized version ), p. 127 f.
^ Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 94-109.
^ Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 111-140.
↑ Patrick Brydone: A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (...) W. Strahan, T. Cadell, London 1773, Volume 1, p. 135 ( digitized version ).
↑ Francesco-di-Paola Bertucci: Guida del Monastero dei PP. Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Musumeci-Papale, Catania 1846, p. 14 ( digitized version ).
↑ Michel-Jean comte de Borch : Lettres sur la Sicile & sur l'Ile de Malthe . Frères Reycends, Turin 1782, 1st volume, p. 74 ( digitized version ).
^ Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 141-165, 170-182.
↑ (Johann Hermann von Riedesel :) Journey through Sicily and Greater Greece . Orell, Geßner, Füeßlin and Comp. , Zurich 1771, p. 104 ( digitized version ).
↑ From my life. From Goethe . Second section, second part, Cotta, Stuttgart and Tübingen 1817, p. 304 ( digitized version ).
↑ Michel-Jean comte de Borch: Lettres sur la Sicile & sur l'Ile de Malthe. Frères Reycends, Turin 1782, 1st volume, p. 74 ( digitized version ); see. Patrick Brydone: A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (…) W. Strahan, T. Cadell, London 1773, Volume 1, p. 137 ( digitized version ).
↑ See Mariangela Liuzzo, Giuseppe Margani: La Cupola. In: Rosa G. Caponetto et al. : Quattro studi sulla chiesa di San Nicolò l'Arena: Indagini storico-costruttive ( Documenti, 27). Dipartimento di Architettura e Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Catania 2004, ISBN 88-901663-0-4 , pp. 79-138 ( digitized ).
^ Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena (IV). Il completamento del monastero e della chiesa (from 1766 alla confisca post-unitaria). In: Agorà, Periodico di Cultura Siciliana (Catania), 57/2016, pp. 66–71 ( digitized version ).
^ Derek Beales : Prosperity and Plunder, European Catholic Monasteries in the Age of Revolution, 1650-1815. Cambridge University Press , 2003, ISBN 0-521-59090-6 , p. 294.
^ Antonino Leonardi: La cucina e il ventre. Guida al museo della fabbrica del Monastero dei Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Maimone, Catania 2005, ISBN 978-88-7751-226-0 .
↑ Patrick Brydone: A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (…) W. Strahan, T. Cadell, London 1773, Volume 1, p. 136 ( digitized version ).
↑ Francesco-di-Paola Bertucci: Guida del Monastero dei PP. Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Musumeci-Papale, Catania 1846, p. 68 ( digitized version ).
^ Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 332-335; Francesco Mannino (ed.): Breve storia del Monastero dei Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Maimone, Catania 2015, ISBN 978-88-7751-371-7 , pp. 87-93.

37.504166666667 15.079722222222Coordinates: 37 ° 30 ′ 15 ″ N , 15 ° 4 ′ 47 ″ E

[1] Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 19–94.

[2] Stefano Piazza: Le città tardobarocche del Val di Noto nella World Heritage List dell'UNESCO. Regione Siciliana, Palermo 2008 ( digitized version ), p. 127 f.

[3] Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 94-109.

[4] Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 111-140.

[5] Patrick Brydone: A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (...) W. Strahan, T. Cadell, London 1773, Volume 1, p. 135 ( digitized version ).

[6] Francesco-di-Paola Bertucci: Guida del Monastero dei PP. Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Musumeci-Papale, Catania 1846, p. 14 ( digitized version ).

[7] Michel-Jean comte de Borch : Lettres sur la Sicile & sur l'Ile de Malthe . Frères Reycends, Turin 1782, 1st volume, p. 74 ( digitized version ).

[8] Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Editoriale Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 141-165, 170-182.

[9] (Johann Hermann von Riedesel :) Journey through Sicily and Greater Greece . Orell, Geßner, Füeßlin and Comp. , Zurich 1771, p. 104 ( digitized version ).

[10] From my life. From Goethe . Second section, second part, Cotta, Stuttgart and Tübingen 1817, p. 304 ( digitized version ).

[11] Michel-Jean comte de Borch: Lettres sur la Sicile & sur l'Ile de Malthe. Frères Reycends, Turin 1782, 1st volume, p. 74 ( digitized version ); see. Patrick Brydone: A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (…) W. Strahan, T. Cadell, London 1773, Volume 1, p. 137 ( digitized version ).

[12] See Mariangela Liuzzo, Giuseppe Margani: La Cupola. In: Rosa G. Caponetto et al. : Quattro studi sulla chiesa di San Nicolò l'Arena: Indagini storico-costruttive ( Documenti, 27). Dipartimento di Architettura e Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Catania 2004, ISBN 88-901663-0-4 , pp. 79-138 ( digitized ).

[13] Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena (IV). Il completamento del monastero e della chiesa (from 1766 alla confisca post-unitaria). In: Agorà, Periodico di Cultura Siciliana (Catania), 57/2016, pp. 66–71 ( digitized version ).

[14] Derek Beales : Prosperity and Plunder, European Catholic Monasteries in the Age of Revolution, 1650-1815. Cambridge University Press , 2003, ISBN 0-521-59090-6 , p. 294.

[15] Antonino Leonardi: La cucina e il ventre. Guida al museo della fabbrica del Monastero dei Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Maimone, Catania 2005, ISBN 978-88-7751-226-0 .

[16] Patrick Brydone: A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (…) W. Strahan, T. Cadell, London 1773, Volume 1, p. 136 ( digitized version ).

[17] Francesco-di-Paola Bertucci: Guida del Monastero dei PP. Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Musumeci-Papale, Catania 1846, p. 68 ( digitized version ).

[18] Salvatore Maria Calogero: Il Monastero catanese di San Nicolò l'Arena. Dalla posa della prima pietra alla confisca post-unitaria. Agorà, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-89930-27-4 , pp. 332-335; Francesco Mannino (ed.): Breve storia del Monastero dei Benedettini di Catania. Giuseppe Maimone, Catania 2015, ISBN 978-88-7751-371-7 , pp. 87-93.