PhD Program in Historical studies
Church of San Giuliano, Valle Palace, Biscari Palace
Vaccarini‘s stamp is also visible in other places of Catania. The church of San Giuliano (Saint Julian), situated in via dei Crociferi in front of the Jesuit college, is surrounded by a fine wrought-iron gate and has a concave façade at the center of great simplicity and elegance. The first order is dominated by the main entrance, surmounted by two female allegorical statues, while in the second order a loggia crowns the entire front. The dome, with its large windows that illuminate the interior of the church, was frescoed by Giuseppe RapisardiGiuseppe Rapisardi (1799-1853) was a painter from Catania. He was active mainly in his native city and its surroundings. He was the author of portraits and paintings of historical and sacred subjects.. The building has an octagonal plan, within the walls stand the great altar made of polychrome marble and gilded bronze, and other works of art, such as a crucifix from the fourteenth century and a painting by Olivio SozziOlivio Sozzi (1690-1765) was a painter from Catania. After a period of training in Rome, he returned to Sicily in 1732. His most famous work is made up of 26 frescoes which decorated the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Ispica. Died at Ispica following the fall from a scaffolding..
Palazzo Valle, located in via Vittorio Emanuele II, is another symbol of the work of Vaccarini in the reconstruction of Catania after the 1693 earthquake. It presents a very rich façade, in which the main entrance is surmounted by a tympanum which supports the corbel that juts out of the central balcony of the palace. Other curvilinear balconies enrich the front, made up of the floor of the workshops and the piano nobile, the owner’s residence. Vaccarini also had an important role in building the convitto “Mario Cutelli”, College, a boy’s boarding school which was completed around 1760. Indeed, if the neoclassical façade overlooking via Vittorio Emanuele is the work of Francesco BattagliaFrancesco Battaglia (1701-1788) was one of the most important architects of the Sicilian Baroque. He was the uncle of Carmelo Battaglia Santangelo., Vaccarini was responsible for the monumental circular courtyard inside the building.
Beyond the work of Vaccarini, an equally famous and significant testimony in the fervent reconstruction of the city between the end of the seventeenth century and the first decades of the next century, is the example of the Biscari Palace. Built at the behest of the Paternò Castello, the princes of Biscari, on the walls of Catania built by Charles V in the sixteenth century (and which, in part, had withstood the earthquake), the building was modeled according to the design of various successive architects over the years. The construction work was completed only in 1763. The decorations of the seven windows overlooking the marina, one of the most characteristic features of the structure (photo) are by the sculptor from Messina Antonio Amato. Inside, which is accessed through a large doorway that leads into the central courtyard, worthy of note are a few rooms full of history, decorations and artwork, such as the “ballroom”, the “hall of fiefs”, the “gallery of birds”, the “apartments of the princess” and the Museum.