Militello in Val di Catania

Militello Val di Catania is in the Catania province. It's one of Sicily's eight UNESCO world heritage listed Baroque towns, and is part of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

Understand

Abbey of S.Benedetto

Militello in Val di Catania is in the northern-most foothills of the Iblei mountains.

Get in

Militello is about 40 km from Catania and from Caltagirone. You can also get in by train from Catania or Gela.

By plane

• Catania Airport (Airport of Catania Fontanarossa "Vincenzo Bellini", CTA ^IATA), Via Fontanarossa, 20, Fontanarossa, ☏ +39 0957239111. 
• Comiso Airport (Pio La Torre Airport, CIY ^IATA), +39 0932 961467. It is served by a few low-cost carriers. 

From Catania airport to Catania city centre it is possible to use the AMT-"Alibus" city bus, every 20 minutes 05:00-00:00 for €4. From Catania (Via Archimede, near the railway station) it is possible to take the Interbus company (Etna Trasporti, Segesta) up to Militello in Val di Catania (Via Ugo La Malfa). (1 hr 5 min). }}

By car

From Catania with the A18, continue in the direction SS114, then at the roundabout take the Ragusana state road, SS194 until you reach the Jazzotto crossroads, continuing on the SS385(Palagonia state road) up to Militello in Val di Catania.

From Militello in Val di Catania taking the provincial road of the SP 28ii in the direction of Vizzini via SP38ii towards Licodia Eubea. Taking the SP 28i crossing Scordia and once you have passed it, taking the SP16 you reach Lentini, or taking the SP29e SS385 towards Palagoni Always from Scordia via the SP29 to reach Francofonte.

By train

• 1 Militello station. along the Catania - Caltagirone - Gela route  

By bus

• Bus stop, Via Giovanni Verga 10. From Catania (Via Archimede) it is possible to take an Interbus bus. The Molinaro bus company also connects with Castel Di Iudica, Carrubbo, Giumarra, Cinquemara, Ramacca , Palagonia and Scordia (FS). You can change at Castel di Iudica to reach Caltagirone and Paternó. (updated Feb 2023)

See

Churches

Mother Church of San Nicolò

• 1 Mother Church of San Nicolò and Santissimo Salvatore, Via Matrice, 7, ☏ +39 095 883 8024. It was opened for worship in 1740. In 1750 the first order of the façade designed by the architect was completed Girolamo Palazzotto, while in 1765 the second order and the bell tower with an oriental-style dome were built by the Catanian architect Francesco Battaglia. At the end of the 19th century, it was enlarged with the construction of the transept and the apse and in 1904 the dome was raised, the first work in reinforced concrete in eastern Sicily, 30 m high. The interior of the church, in the shape of a Latin cross, has three naves divided by five arches supported by twelve pillars with Ionic capitals, the naves are decorated with refined eighteenth-century stuccos to which are added the statues of the four evangelists in the dome's pendentives, performed by the sculptor Giuseppe D'Arrigo from Catania (1904). In 1950 the frescoes in the vault and in the apse were painted by fellow citizen Giuseppe Barone, depicting scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas and the life of Jesus. The Baroque façade of the church, punctuated by eight large pilasters with high bases and Corinthian capitals, includes the central portal (recovered from the high altar of the old matrix) with paired columns and a broken arch tympanum and the two side doors, known as “of the sun” and “of the moon” surmounted by windows. Among the most important works kept inside we find: the large altarpiece of 1761, within a wooden machine, depicting the Preaching of San Nicolò by Vito D'Anna; some recovered altars including the 17th-century chapel of the Pietà from San Nicolò il Vecchio; the valuable statues of San Nicola in the chair and Santa Lucia from the 17th century (also from the old matrix) and a beautiful sculptural group of Neapolitan workmanship depicting the Holy Family from 1748. It also houses the valuable wooden effigy of the Most Holy Savior, Patron of the City , a late 18th-century work by Girolamo Bagnasco from Palermo, enriched by an elegant golden fern with angels holding up a crown, made in the first decades of the 19th century by Corrado Leone from Ragusa.  

Shrine of Santa Maria della Stella

• 2 Shrine of Santa Maria della Stella (Santuario di Santa Maria della Stella), Piazza Santa Maria della Stella, 1, ☏ +39 095 883 8058. It was opened for worship in 1741. The temple, dedicated to the Madonna della Stella, the main patron saint of the city, is located at the top of a wide staircase and has a harmonious façade full of carvings, flanked by a mighty bell tower. The design of the facade is due to the architect Giuseppe Ferrara da Palazzolo Acreide, the valuable eighteenth-century stuccos that decorate the interior are by Onofrio Russo from Agrigento of the Serpotta school. The interior, with a basilica plan with three naves, has twelve altars and is divided by graceful pillars that support the large barrel vault decorated in stucco and frescoed by the Militellese painter Giuseppe Barone (1947). The frescoes on the vault depict: the Presentation in the Temple, the Annunciation and the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin. Among the numerous masterpieces of art kept in it we find: the precious statue in wood and hemp of the Madonna della Stella (1618), object of a special cult and devotion for centuries, restored in 1693 following the earthquake by the sculptor Camillo Confalone, and enthroned in the days of the annual feast within a rich eighteenth-century wooden fercolo; a grandiose altarpiece by Olivio Sozzi depicting the Nativity of Mary, framed by a wooden machine from 1753; the valuable wooden statue of Christ at the column (1630), attributed to friar Umile da Petralia but rebuilt in 1693 by Gaetano Frazzetto from Militello; numerous valuable canvases with rich wooden zecchino frames, such as the one depicting the Martyrdom of San Bartolomeo from 1694; the stone sarcophagi of the feudal lords of the city from the 15th and 16th centuries, testimony of the Royal Patronage which the church enjoyed until 1788 and of its antiquity as a sacramental church of the city. The church also preserves the extraordinary altarpiece in glazed terracotta by the Florentine sculptor Andrea della Robbia depicting the Nativity of Jesus (1487), from Santa Maria la Vetere.  
• 3 Monastery of San Benedetto, Piazza Municipio, 7. The vast Benedictine complex of Militello was built between 1616 and 1646, based on a design by the monk Valeriano De Franchi, and is characterized by the Mannerist structure with notable Baroque hints in the carving. In terms of size, it is the third Benedictine monastery in Sicily after those of Catania and Monreale. The large and bright interior of the church (now the parish) preserves numerous works of art of exquisite workmanship. The premises of the former monastery instead, after the expulsion of the monks and the seizure by the Italian State (1866), host the premises of the Municipality.  
• 4 Church of the Blessed Sacrament at the Circle (Chiesa del Santissimo Sacramento al Circolo), Via Umberto I, 8. Votive church built in the second decade of the 18th century, based on a project by the Militellese architect Don Antonino Scirè Giarro, it was intended for the perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. It has a singular carved Baroque facade with a concave Borrominian profile, surmounted by a bell loggia with a three-light fan profile. Inside, decorated with elegant stuccoes in the late Baroque style, it preserves the valuable statue with its fercolo of Sant'Antonio Abate in the chair of 1575, the work of the Bivonese sculptor Antonio De Mauro, coming from the church of S. Antonio Abate. Of particular interest is the predella of the statue of the saint with scenes from his life depicted in relief. A tombstone from 1724 (today exhibited in the Treasury of S. Maria della Stella) remembers the spouses Alfio Palermo and Fortunata of the barons Lamia, benefactors of the church, buried here. The church also has two interesting frescoes, on the pillars of the large chapel of the presbytery, depicting the coat of arms of the Bourbons of Naples and Sicily in the two different elaborations, of Charles III and Ferdinand III of Sicily. 
• 5 Church of Sant'Antonio di Padova, Via Sant'Antonino, 1. It was built in 1503 through the interest of the confraternity of the same name, in the place where, according to a local tradition, Saint Anthony of Padua stopped during his journey from Lentini to Vizzini in 1223 (second journey to Sicily). The church, remodeled several times over the centuries, had six Renaissance-style chapels with carvings, one of which is still visible. In addition to the devotion to the titular saint, devotion to the Virgin of Monserrato was cultivated in it, of which a statue made by Matteo Frazzetto in 1583 and then rebuilt in the 18th century (now in the San Nicolò Museum) was kept. The presence of a chapel called the Holy Sepulchre, accompanied by a clay sculptural group depicting the Deposition of Jesus (now disappeared), and a Maltese cross on the façade suggest a connection between the confraternity of this church and some Jerusalemite order. The dome from 1574 with a blind hexagonal lantern that overlooks the presbytery area (former chapel of the Holy Sepulcher) is completely unique: characterized by a ribbed vault on an octagonal base with angular spandrels with projecting steps, it refers to similar solutions of medieval architecture of Sicily, filtered in the light of the new language of the Renaissance imported perhaps, in this case, by Giandomenico and Antonuzzo Gagini active in Militello in those years. 
• 6 Church of the Most Holy Crucifix on Calvary (Chiesa del Calvario), Via del Calvario, 12. The church is mentioned for the first time in a bishop's decree of 1503. It was built for devotional purposes on top of the Caruso hill, in a dominant position over the town, in memory of Golgotha. Later the confraternity of the SS. Crocifisso al Calvario will assume its care and administration. In the following century it was enlarged and assumed the shape of a cross with the addition of three apses surmounted by an octagonal blind lantern, as seen today. The valuable carved chapel with reliquary of the high altar belongs to this building phase. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693 (many faithful gathered in prayer died in the collapse), in the mid-18th century it was repaired and enriched with stuccos, new altars, sacred furnishings and a valuable Crucifix object of particular veneration in Lent. In 1740 the Catanese painter Giovanni Meli was commissioned to paint the large canvases placed along the walls of the nave, depicting: Christ on Calvary (stolen), Christ mocked, Christ scourged and Christ in the garden. In 1762 the Catania architect Francesco Battaglia designed the original portico that closes the facade, under which the famous and evocative rite of the crucifixion and deposition of Jesus takes place every year on Good Friday. 
• 7 Church of the Madonna della Catena (Chiesa S. Maria della Catena), Via Angelo Maiorana, 50. This beautiful church was built at the beginning of the 16th century on the devotional initiative of the Militellese priest Don Nicola Di Salvo. The building was built near the summer palace of the Barresi in whose prospectus there was a votive aedicule depicting the Madonna della Catena. The interior is decorated with sumptuous seventeenth-century stuccos and a fine wooden ceiling.  
• 8 Confraternity Church of the Guardian Angels (of San Michele Arcangelo) (Chiesa confraternale degli Angeli Custodi), Via Dell'Angelo, 1. Known by the Militellesi simply as the Angel, it was built in 1639 on the initiative of some priests of the city, zealous in works of charity, on the site where a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael had already stood since the 13th century. The old hospital run by the Compagnia dei Bianchi was annexed to the latter (hospital perhaps was built by the Knights Templar). After the hospital was transferred to another place and the Company ceased to take care of the church, in 1657 it became the seat of the new Congregation of Maria Santissima degli Agonizzanti, still active today, which had the purpose of offering comfort to the dying and a worthy burial to the needy. Restored following the 1693 earthquake, the building has valuable rococo style stuccos and a splendid Caltagirone ceramic floor from 1768 (in 2000 some majolica tiles from the floor were stolen). The church also has two canvases depicting the Archangels Michael and Raphael and a positive organ from the early 18th century, now transferred to Santa Maria della Stella for safety reasons. 
• 9 Confraternity Church of San Sebastiano (Chiesa confraternale di San Sebastiano), Via Porta della Terra, 42/44. Mentioned for the first time in 1504, it was the seat of the homonymous brotherhood perhaps connected to the Order of Malta (as can be deduced from a sign on the facade). In 1572 it became a destination for devotees and pilgrims who acclaimed San Sebastiano martyr co-patron of Militello, for having freed the city from the scourge of the plague. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, it was rebuilt in 1702 incorporating the portal of the 16th-century church into the façade. It has three altars in all and the main altar contains the statue of San Sebastiano with wooden ferrule, framed by a magnificent carved stone chapel in Baroque style from 1708. Other furnishings, vestments and sacred furnishings, including the silver reliquary of San Sebastiano, are exhibited in the Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella. 
• 10 Confraternity Church of the Holy Souls of Purgatory (Chiesa del Purgatorio), Largo Purgatorio. Dedicated to Saints Vitus and Gregory the Great, but better known as the Purgatory, it was built in 1613 to replace the old church of San Vito, located elsewhere and now in ruins. The elegant intaglio prospectus of 1690 is due to the Militellese master builder Giacomo Barone. Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was immediately repaired. With a single nave and three altars in all, it is decorated inside with valuable and sumptuous polychrome stuccos with allegorical figures and has a grandiose high altar with steps in gilded wood with zecchino, surmounted by a small throne for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. 
• 11 Church of Santa Maria dello Spasimo (Our Lady of Spasimo Church), Largo dell'Addolorata, 9A. Originally only a rock chapel located in the upper part of the city towards the west, mentioned in a deed of 1517. In it the bishops of Syracuse on a pastoral visit to Militello wore pontifical clothes, being along the ancient route that connected Militello to Mineo , Vizzini and Caltagirone . It was replaced by a new brick church in 1568, located a short distance from the old one. This was not damaged by the earthquake of 1693 and today has a beautiful carved portal (probably made by the workers working in the city in the mid-18th century, following Francesco Battaglia), graceful eighteenth-century stuccos and the venerated simulacrums of Our Lady of Sorrows and the Help. 
• 12 Church and former Benedictine convent of San Giovanni Battista (Church of San Giovanni Battista or the Badìa), Via Tipografia Rossi, 22. Of medieval foundation, the Benedictine convent complex of San Giovanni Battista was gifted around 1470 by Countess Eleonora Speciale, widow of Baron Blasco II Barresi di Militello, daughter of the Viceroy of Sicily Niccolò Speciale and Beatrice Landolina who retired here in later years of his life. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693 and subsequently restored, it still retains some of the original structures, such as a beautiful Renaissance-style portal. Like all the other monasteries in Sicily, it suffered the effects of the subversive laws of 1866 which transferred ownership of the building to the Italian state. Subsequently the monastery was sold to private individuals who obtained homes from it, while the church was redeemed and transferred to the Parish of Santa Maria della Stella. The single nave is embellished with a beautiful eighteenth-century floor in Calatina majolica with a serial design and has a total of three altars, in addition to the nuns' choir in the choir loft. In the high altar there is an eighteenth-century statue of St. John the Baptist, once protected by a canvas depicting the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan (now in Santa Maria della Stella). The other two altars instead exhibited two beautiful canvases by Alessandro Comparetto depicting respectively the Nativity of San Giovanni (1631) and the Beheading of San Giovanni (1634). For safety reasons, the canvases, together with other sacred furnishings (including a 15th-century pyx and a frontal in gold thread), are now kept in the Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella. 
• 13 Church and former Benedictine convent of Sant'Agata, Piazza Sant'Agata. The church and the first recluse were built at the beginning of the 16th century, thanks to the offers of Militello devotees who wanted to erect a church dedicated to the martyr from Catania in their city. A "contrada of Sant'Agata" is mentioned in a deed of the notary Matteo Mancarello di Militello dated 1514. This initiative, a few decades later, was taken up by the lords of the city who equipped the prison and used it as a boarding school for "poor old maids". Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, the monastery was repaired and enlarged in 1695 by Prince Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte, Marquis of Militello, who installed the cloistered Benedictine nuns there. The facade of the church was instead rebuilt in the late 18th century with carving in neoclassical forms, however remaining incomplete. In 1869, expelled the nuns following the suppression of religious orders by the Italian State, the premises of the monastery were sold to private individuals who obtained homes (some structures of the ancient monastery are still visible on the back from a courtyard in via Clausura), the church instead it was redeemed and transferred ownership to the matrix. The hall interior, essential in the decorations, houses the valuable 17th-century chapel of the main altar in polychrome stone in the Mannerist style (similar to the chapel of the main altar of the church of Purgatorio and to the chapel of the Nativity of Santa Maria la Vetere), this it frames the statue with a fern of the Madonna delle Grazie. The 17th-century statues of Sant'Agata and San Benedetto are also kept inside. 
• 14 Church and former Augustinian convent of San Leonardo Abate, via Sortino. Dedicated to the hermit saint of Noblac, the church was built in the mid-16th century as the seat of a brotherhood. Subsequently the Brancifortes wanted to add a cenoby to it to transfer the Reformed Augustinian friars of the Sicilian Centorbina Congregation who until then were housed in a small convent outside the city (today called the Conventazzu). The works were completed in 1630 and the following year the friars moved there. The church and convent were not damaged by the earthquake of 1693. However, following the suppression of ecclesiastical bodies in 1866, the church went into disuse (also due to the lowering of the street level which made access to it impracticable), while the premises of the convent were used as public schools until the 1950s. The entire complex is now in ruins. Of the church, the 17th-century stuccos and the remains of the high altar inside are barely visible. Outside, the front of the entrance door has a frieze with the monogram of Christ inscribed in a sun with twelve rays and an epigraph with the dedication to the titular saint dated 1638. There was a beautiful 17th-century statue depicting San Leonardo Abate, a refined alabaster Madonna of Trapani from the 1400s and numerous other works of art (canvases, marbles and sacred furnishings) now exhibited at the San Nicolò Museum. A papier-mâché statue of Saint Monica (mother of Saint Augustine) was modified to represent the more popular Saint Rita (Augustinian nun) and placed in the mother church of San Nicola. 
• 15 Church and former convent of San Domenico dei Frati Predicatori (Municipal Auditorium), Via Vincenzo Natale, 2. The Dominican friars arrived in Militello in 1536, at the behest of the Barresi, and here they settled at the Annunziata church outside the city, remaining there until the early 1600s. Subsequently, Prince Francesco Branciforte, to facilitate control over the population by the Holy Inquisition, wanted to transfer the seat of the Dominicans to the city, and had them build the new church and the new convent which were inaugurated in 1613. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693, both were soon redone. The church that can be seen today, one of the largest in Militello, is characterized by a large classical façade, with a spire-shaped tympanum, and a hall-like interior, decorated with stuccos, with a deep presbytery. Inside it housed six stone chapels with carvings, among which the one of the Madonna del Rosario stood out with a canvas by Mario Minniti from 1620 (now lost). Although the convent and the church suffered the effects of the suppression of 1866, the latter continued to function until the mid-1900s, when it was now unsafe and finally stripped of all its furnishings and abandoned (some surviving works are in Santa Maria della Stella and in San Benedetto). The premises of the convent instead housed a kindergarten (Asilo Laganà Campisi), schools and private homes. Fortunately, the entire complex was recovered and enhanced in the early 2000s. The church is now used as a Municipal Auditorium, while the former convent houses a conference room, the "Angelo Majorana" Municipal Library, the Civic Museum, the Historical Archive and the Civic Art Gallery " 
• 16 Church and former convent of San Francesco d'Assisi of the Friars Minor Conventual, via Principe Branciforte. According to an ancient tradition, supported by documentary evidence, the convent was founded in 1235 by Friar Paolo da Venezia, a disciple of San Francesco d'Assisi, and remained in operation until it was suppressed in 1866. It was one of the first Franciscan convents in Sicily. Rebuilt several times following calamitous events and the wear and tear of time, today only the church remains, as the entire convent building, now dilapidated and unsafe, was demolished in 1964. Of the ancient convent, which essential in its forms, only the compartment of the cistern, some connecting corbels of the colonnaded portico of the cloister and a compartment used today as a sacristy (presbytery area of ​​the pre-earthquake church of 1693) can be identified. The church, on the other hand, has a simple portal with a carved window in the façade and graceful neoclassical-style stuccoes inside. It used to be embellished with various canvases (some by Filippo Paladini) mainly depicting Franciscan saints, today transferred to the "San Nicolò" Museum for safety reasons and better use. On December 8 of each year the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated, of which a valuable polychrome wooden statue made in 1693 by the sculptor Camillo Confalone is preserved. 
• 17 Church and convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli of the Capuchin Friars, via Principe Branciforte. The convent of the Capuchin friars of Militello was commissioned in 1575 by Caterina Barresi, a few years after the death of her brother Vincenzo, first Marquis of Militello. Next to the convent there was already a small church which however was rebuilt in 1582. The building withstood the tremors of 1693, the few ruined parts were rebuilt and completed in 1709. The church with a single nave has several carved chapels and an extraordinary high altar in wood that frames the superb altarpiece with Santa Maria degli Angeli and six saints painted in 1612 by Filippo Paladini. The altarpiece also hides a rich carved reliquary from 1777 with over 500 relics of saints. In an altar of the church the body of San Feliciano Martire is displayed, brought here from Rome. In the past, the convent was the seat of the novitiate and housed various provincial chapters of the Order. In this church, near the altar of the Madonna, the Servant of God Father Biagio da Caltanissetta (1634-1684), a Capuchin preacher, famous during his lifetime for numerous miracles, is buried. Following the suppression of 1866, the building became state property but was redeemed. Until the early 1980s, it was still inhabited by friars. Today, due to lack of monks, the church, property of the Capuchin Province of Syracuse, is entrusted to the monks of the Capuchin convent of Augusta (SR), who celebrate Mass there once a month. The convent, on the other hand, is entrusted on loan for use to a private charitable institution. 
• 18 Church and former convent of San Francesco di Paola all'Annunziata dei Frati Minimi, Piazzale Pasqualina Galeazzi, 71. This church was commissioned by the baron of Militello Antonio Piero Barresi around 1480 and dedicated to Maria SS. Annunziata. Between 1503 and 1515, it was considerably enlarged and a monastery was added to it where the Dominican friars settled. In 1613 the Dominicans moved to the new convent built for them in the centre of the city, and the Minim Friars of San Francesco di Paola settled in their place. The latter wanted to name the church after their founder and rebuild the monastery, remaining there until 1866, the year in which the complex was seized by the Italian state and passed to the Municipality of Militello, which in turn gave it to the Congregation of Charity to use as a hospital. The early 16th-century church, with a single nave, presented the outside a portico supported by columns under which the Glory of Paradise and the Pains of Purgatory were depicted in fresco; inside, however, it had three richly sculpted white stone chapels. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was repaired and decorated with simple and graceful carvings on the facade and valuable late Baroque stuccoes inside, still visible today. Only the stuccoes of the main altar, which frame the statue of San Francesco di Paola, are from before the earthquake. The church, which remained in operation until the early 2000s, is now in a state of abandonment and needs urgent restoration. 
• Church of Santa Barbara (opposite the oldest districts of the city (San Vito, Santa Maria la Vetere)). It is a large rock church in a dominant position with respect to an early medieval rock settlement distributed on several levels, which takes its name from the title of the church. Originally probably just a tomb, the cave was enlarged and used differently over the centuries. Inside the church the elements attributable to cultic use are rare and now compromised, such as some niches and an altar carved into the south wall. 
• Church of Santa Maria della Scala. This small church was created inside a natural cave on the side of a cliff in the south of the town; until the end of the 19th century, the feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple was celebrated there, on November 21 of each year. Of it remain the altar and the vault of the ceiling in ashlars. 
• Church and Benedictine Monastery of the Pirate. It was the first monastery of Militello. According to Rocco Pirro (1577 - 1651), it was built in 1154 at the behest of Manfredi Del Vasto count of Butera, son of Simone del Vasto count of the Lombards of Sicily (nephew of Adelaide del Vasto wife of the great count of Sicily Roger I) . The monastery was built not far from the old town and was entrusted to the Benedictine monks. Even the foundation of the monastery of Militello was part of the policy of latinization of Sicily favored by the immigration of people from Lombardy and the introduction of religious orders linked to the Church of Rome and the Latin language. The place where the monastery was built took the name of "Cava dei Monaci". The period in which the church and monastery were abandoned is not known. 

Palaces

• 19 Palazzo Baldanza (formerly Caruso della Sanzà and Rossitto), Via Giambattista Baldanza, 1/A. It was built in the 18th century and occupies an entire block. It has six balconies with rich masked corbels and festoons in the pilasters. It is enriched by a luxuriant garden which is now surrounded by a wall. It belonged to the noble Caruso family, whose main branch died out at the end of the 18th century, with the baron Don Antonino Caruso who died childless; while the secondary branch in the early years of the 19th century, with Donna Marianna Caruso-Scuderi, married to Antonino Malgioglio and Cardaci di Ramacca. 
• 20 Palazzo Baldanza-Denaro (ex Campisi), Via Senatore Maiorana, 5. It was built in the early 17th century. It is the seat of the "Pro Loco" Tourist Association. It too has balconies decorated with rich Baroque carvings in the corbels and pilasters. It belonged to Signora Denaro, widow Basso La Bianca. 
• 21 Palazzo Iatrini, Via Iatrini, 6. It is a splendid noble residence dating back to 1717. Outside it offers a magnificent balcony supported by richly carved shelves with masks. Inside it has numerous rooms, including a courtyard with a cistern and a garden. It belonged to the ancient Militellese family of the Iatrini who saw in many of its illustrious jurists and religious exponents, such as Mons. Alfio Iatrini, prior of the cathedral of Catania and Mons. Can. Iatrini Dr. Francesco, Supernumerary Secret Waiter of His Holiness and Vicar Forane of Militello. The last exponent of the family, in 1995, donated the entire building to the Sanctuary of S. Maria della Stella. 
• 22 Palazzo Iatrini-Troia (ex Constantine, ex Reforgiato di Linziti), Via Porta della Terra, 2. Its construction was completed in 1771, and has six balconies with late Baroque frames and corbels. Wanted by Baron Reforgiato of Linziti, it later passed to the Costantino family and then to the Iatrini. It was used until the 1960s as the seat of the Tax Agency and then as a religious house. Today it is owned by the parish of S. Maria della Stella. 
• 23 Palazzo Liggieri (ex Reforgiato), via Umberto I at the corner with piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. It is a large building that closes off Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II for an entire side. In addition to the size, this eighteenth-century building is characterized by the remarkable Baroque carvings of the balconies and the large ashlar portal surmounted by the noble coat of arms. 

Palazzo Majorana

• 24 Palazzo Majorana della Nicchiara (or "dei Leoni"), Via Porta della Terra, 58 (opposite the square of Santa Maria della Stella). Rare testimony of 16th-century civil construction, the enormous building was commissioned by the Barresi family as the seat of the jury court and the capital court (the two main administrative bodies of the city). Although remodeled in later periods, and owned several times (including the Majorana-Cocuzzella barons of Nicchiara), it has the original ashlar cantonals, enriched by severe stone lions from the Middle Ages recovered from older buildings. 
• 25 Palazzo Niceforo, Via Giambattista Baldanza, 25. Built in the 18th century, it has a very rich telamon portal. It is one of the most beautiful examples of post-earthquake aristocratic building. 
• 26 Palazzo Oliva (ex Tinnirello, ex Interlandi di Bellaprima), Via Porta della Terra, 62. It dates back to the 17th-18th centuries. It has an elegant carved window, in Mannerist style, on whose tympanum there is a marble heraldic coat of arms. It first belonged to the Calatina family of the Interlandi princes of Bellaprima (the parish priest of San Nicola don Lorenzo Interlandi lived there), in the first half of the 18th century it passed to the illustrious Tinnirello family from Militello who lived there until 1921, hosting the ground floor homonymous pharmacy, and finally to the Oliva family. 
• Palazzo Guttadauro di Reburdone, via Reburdone. This severe Mannerist-style building partially survived the earthquake of 1693. It belonged first to the Ciccaglias and then to the Guttadauro di Reburdone barons (who came from Vizzini) following the marriage between Donna Pietra Antonia Ciccaglia and Don Gaetano Guttadauro (1678). The Guttadauros later moved to Catania where they rose to the dignity of princes. 
• Palazzo Rejna dell'Aere del Conte, via Pietro Carrera. This large building with severe forms, with neoclassical hints, dates back to the end of the 18th century. 
• 27 Palazzo Sciannaca, Via Pietro Carrera, 17. It was built in the 19th century in classical forms, in the same place where the ancient summer palace of the Barresi once stood. In 1936 Pippo Baudo was born there. 
• Palazzo Tineo, via San Sebastiano. An elegant building full of Baroque carvings, it dates back to the 17th century. 

Museums

• Museum of sacred art "San Nicolò", Piazzale Arciprete BG Bellino. It is housed in the ancient burial crypts of the mother church. The evocative layout underlines the value and beauty of the objects on display: a rich collection of liturgical vestments from the 17th-18th centuries; numerous statues of saints from the branch churches of the matrix; the treasures of some of the city's churches and convents, including silverware from the church of Santa Maria della Catena and votive jewels from the Archconfraternity of the SS. Crucifix at Calvary; the votive offerings and the liturgical equipment of the church of Sant'Agata. The visit ends with the art gallery with the altarpiece of the Annunciation by Francesco Frazzetto (1555); the Attack on San Carlo Borromeo by the Tuscan Filippo Paladini (1612), characterized by a certain Caravaggesque luminism and the 17th-century canvas of the Ecstasy of St. Francis (Filippo Paladini), the Miracle of St. Anthony by Candrilli, the sweet Immaculate Conception by Francesco Vaccaro; many other canvases and sacred art artefacts. 
• Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella, piazza Santa Maria, 19, ☏ +39 095 655329. It exhibits numerous and precious works of art: sacred furnishings in silver (15th-18th century) from the parish church and its branch churches; the silver and gold kit of the statue of the Madonna della Stella; ex voto in gold; silk and gold vestments and damask decorations (17th-18th century); sacred images including a 16th century Saint Paul; a notable bas-relief by Domenico Gagini depicting the viceroy of Sicily Pietro Speciale (1468); the monumental fifteenth-century polyptych depicting Saint Peter enthroned and stories from his life, variously attributed to Antonello da Messina or to the Master of the Cross in Piazza Armerina; a painting by Vito D'Anna depicting the Immaculate, as well as other valuable canvases such as a Madonna della Stella by Giacinto Platania (17th century). 

Parco Archeologico di S. Maria la Vetere

• 28 Church and Necropolis of Santa Maria la Vetere, Via Tanneries, 18. It was founded in the Norman age (end of 11th century) on the site of an older Christian cemetery. For centuries it was the parish of the feudal lords of the city and of the militellesi linked by language or socio-economic condition to the dominant ethnic group, beginning with the Normans and Lombards who came to the island following the conquest, or immigrated in the following decades and naturalized as subjects of the Kingdom of Sicily alongside the previous ethnic groups of Siculo-Greeks, Arabs and Jews. Destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries, it was abandoned in the exercise of parish functions due to the damage caused by the earthquake of 1693.  
• Norman Tower (on the north side of the church of Santa Maria la Vetere). The tower suggests the original link between the two buildings, revealing the castral nature of the place of worship in the Norman age. Now only a ruin, the tower reflects the typology of the Anglo-Norman dungeon (11th-12th century), and its dual residential and defensive function. It is a quadrangular building of about 10 m by 9 m on each side, distributed on several orders of floors up to an assumed height of about 20 m, very similar in plan and type of construction to the contemporary fortified buildings of Motta S. Anastasia, Milazzo ("Torre Saracena"), Scicli ("Castellaccio") and Brucato. The ground floor leans against the rocky side of the hill, and inside houses an interesting older underground chamber, probably a tomb from the Greek age, as can be deduced from an inscription in archaic Greek present in a wall; the first floor, on the other hand, supported by a barrel vault in stone ashlars, has a large window to the north, with a large shelf. Of the second floor, a piece of the east wall survives, and some steps of the connecting spiral staircase, obtained inside the perimeter wall. Neglected following the construction further upstream of the Barresi-Branciforte castle (14th-17th century), the tower was then used as an ossuary for the parish of Santa Maria della Stella, a circumstance that has completely obscured, in local historiography, the memory of the its primitive military function, in relation to the Norman origins of Militello. 
• 29 Church of the Holy Spirit (Chiesa dello Spirito Santo), Archaeological Park of S. Maria la Vetere. It is a rock chapel dug into a side of the quarry of S. Maria la Vetere, now definitively compromised in its original underground structure by large collapses. The absence of historical information has encouraged scholars to elaborate the most diverse hypotheses about its original cultic functions (early Christian catacomb; Byzantine church; Teutonic chapel), but it was probably built in the Norman age (12th century) as an oratory belonging to the adjoining rock complex of S. Maria la Vetere. The internal walls are characterized by an uninterrupted series of niches carved into the rock, which originally served as backrests for seats (a sort of rocky stall). Some of these niches have engravings with crosses and symbols attributable to the Templars. On the south wall, there is an altar carved entirely into the rock, under which there are pit tombs, which also demonstrate a funerary use of the church. Abbot Vito Maria Amico, in the mid-18th century, still saw some paintings of which no trace remains today. In recent centuries it has been used continuously as a cemetery crypt and ossuary.  

Other

Castello Barresi Branciforte and Gate of the Earth

• 30 Castello Barresi Branciforte, Largo Atrio del Castello, 1. Built in the 14th century, and subsequently enlarged several times, it was partly attached to the circuit of the medieval walls and separated by a moat on the west side. Severely damaged by the catastrophic earthquake of 1693, the castle was only partially repaired. During the 18th century it was only rarely used by the lords on the occasion of a few visits. At the beginning of the 1900s, the building, now abandoned, was divided and sold to private individuals who made it into homes, altering the whole with additions or dismantling. Only the following remain of the imposing building: the entrance door to the southern courtyard (called Porta della Terra, with reference to the Terra Vecchia district of which the castle was part), the fountain of the Ninfa Zizza, two cylindrical towers with adjacent rooms, the large rooms of the mill for milling the olives, the southern end of the "gallery" where the library was located and some masonry fragments of the northern curtain wall. To the south of the castle, in line with the Porta della Terra, one of the secondary gates of the medieval walls of the city survives, the Porta del "Bastione".  
• 31 Gate of the Earth (Porta della Terra=), Via del Castello. Ancient gate attached to the castle buildings. 
• 32 Fountain of the Nymph Zizza (Fontana della Ninfa Zizza), Largo Atrium of the Castle. It was built in 1607 in the southern courtyard of the castle to celebrate the construction of the first aqueduct of Militello, commissioned by Prince Francesco Branciforte. Mannerist in shape with an octagonal basin, in which one could admire the precious marble bas-relief depicting the Ninfa Zizza by Giandomenico Gagini. The original bas-relief, for the purpose of its greater protection, has been replaced by a plaster copy. 

Outside the inhabited centre

• Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie outside the walls (Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie fuori le mura), Contrada Madonna delle Grazie. It was built in 1504 at the behest of the noble Costanza Barresi e Speciale, daughter of Blasco II Barresi, baron of Militello. Built outside the town, it was located on the old road that connected Militello to Scordia and Lentini. Spared by the earthquake of 1693, it still retains the original sacristy with a round vault in polished stone. In 1866 it underwent a radical makeover and was reopened for worship on 1 September of the same year with a solemn ceremony presided over by the parish priest don Francesco Caltabiano. Up until a few years ago, the image of the Madonna delle Grazie painted inside an aedicule on the east side was still legible. On 2 July of each year, it is the destination of a devoted and well-attended city pilgrimage. 
• 33 Church of the Holy Cross (Chiesa della Santa Croce) (on top of a high hill (680 m) on the old road that connected Militello to Mineo). It was built in the mid-1400s. Its legendary origins are told, but more likely it was built by the Barresi, lords of the city, with the aim of marking the boundaries of their territory, as well as to ensure the sacraments to the peasants residing in those districts. Partially collapsed in the 19th century, and rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century, the small church still retains some original structures: the arched presbytery arch on which is set a ribbed cross vault supported by corbels in the late Gothic style; on the altar a fresco, remodeled several times and now very damaged, depicting the Triumph of the Holy Cross. On May 1st of each year, Holy Mass is celebrated with a concourse of people. 
• Church of the Santissimo Crocifisso al Franco (close to the bed of the Iatrini stream, along the provincial road to Catania). 18th century. Inside, in correspondence with the altar (removed), there is a very damaged painted image depicting the Crucifix between the apostles Peter and Paul. Today it is in a state of neglect. 
• 34 Church of Conventazzu and Greek fortifications (Chiesa del Conventazzu e fortificazioni greche), Contrada Bognani (outside the town). It was dedicated to San Michele. It was annexed to the hermitage which housed the Augustinian friars until their transfer to the city (17th century). The ruins that can be seen are from the 16th century. The monastic complex was set on the remains of a Greek fortification, still visible. 
• Church of Santa Maria Annunziata di Fuori, contrada Annunziata about 3 km from the town of Militello towards Scordia. Until the end of the 15th century people went there on pilgrimage on 25 March and on the Wednesday after Easter of each year, offering an opportunity for recreation and country games which, however, often degenerated into brawls. The prohibition of the lords of the city to continue this tradition led to the oblivion of the church. Today of this place of worship, which falls within a private fenced farm, discrete masonry remains are visible, probably dating back to the 16th century. 
• 35 Necropolis of Castelluzzo (Necropoli di Castelluccio) (reachable by means of a comfortable carriageway which branches off from the SP 28i, a few hundred meters from the crossroads with the SP30). Necropolis dating from the Bronze Age (3rd-2nd millennium BC) to the Iron Age (10th-8th century BC). The tombs have different characteristics: some have cells with an elliptical plan and a vaulted ceiling, while others have a cell with an elliptical or quadrangular plan and a flat ceiling. All with multiple depositions. 
• Oxina Necropolis. 
• 36 Santa Barbara Necropolis. 
• Cùbburo, Contrada Catalfaro. It is a small dry stone building in the form of a tholos typical of Sicily and widespread in a few localities. They were protective shelters and are an important architectural element of the tradition, whose origins are lost over the centuries. 
• 37 Necropolis of Piano Maenza. 

Do

Events

• Saint Benedict Abbot, on July 11th
• Holy Saviour, on August 18
• Our Lady of the Star, on September 8
• Mostarda and prickly pear festival, in October

Excursions

• Carcarone quarry. It is a spectacular, deep and articulated canyon located to the east of the town, clearly visible from the bends of the provincial road 28/I for Scordia (CT). Several cavities present along the high rocky walls of the canyon, in prehistoric times, have offered the opportunity for the formation of human settlements. The presence of extensive fossil coral banks is of great geological interest in the site. 
• 1 Cascate dell'Oxena (south of Militello on the border with Francofonte, reachable via the SP 28ii Militello-Vizzini Scalo junction for Francofonte). These are small natural waterfalls set in a beautiful environmental context, characterized by a stream and the presence of olive trees, carob trees, oaks, prickly pears, tamarisks and oleanders. The waters are fed on a permanent basis by the Ossena river (or Oxena). The Ossena is a tributary of the Trigona which in turn flows partly into the lake of Lentini and partly into the San Leonardo (river which crosses the Plain of Catania and flows into the Ionian Sea). The basaltic rocks that characterize its bed are fascinating, especially in the hot seasons due to the refreshment they offer. Visiting these waterfalls allows you to enjoy an unusual environment, made up of verdant quarries and sunny plateaus: you walk along the bottom of one of these quarries, under a plant gallery that serves as a vault, and you scour the river upstream, which is never deep. The Ossena waterfalls are today one of the most intact and fascinating natural environments of the Iblei of Catania.  

Eat

Cassatelle di Militello

The best-known product of Militello is the prickly pear, which excels in this area. Other typical gastronomic products:

• Cassatelline di Militello (from the "aunt nun" or cassatiddini from za' nun ). A true confectionary delicacy, the cassatelline di Militello are square-shaped baskets of puff pastry (among the ingredients flour, eggs, sugar, suet), filled with a mixture of blanched almonds, fruit jam, chocolate, liqueur, cinnamon and cloves, all decorated with oven-dried white icing. Three working days are required for their preparation. At least three confectionary laboratories ensure its production and sale on a daily basis.
• Mostaccioli (mastrazzola). Winter sweets in caramelized chunks, made from an oven-toasted dough of cooked wine, flour, sugar and herbs.
• Fasciatelli ('nfasciateddi). Christmas sweets that consist of a soft dough of flour, toasted almonds, honey and cloves, wrapped in shortcrust pastry fettuccine. All caramelized in a pot with sugar and lemon peel.
• Pipirata. It is prepared with prickly pear cooked wine, rice, pine nuts and herbs (there is a modern variant, which involves the addition of chocolate flakes, almonds and hazelnuts).
• Muscardines. Known elsewhere as bones of the dead; giammelli, soft square-shaped biscuits covered with icing; crispelle, prepared here with mashed potatoes, flour, sugar and cinnamon.