Monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena, Catania

Monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena, Catania

Founded in 1558, the Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena in Catania is one of the largest monasteries in Europe.

Founded in 1558, the Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena in Catania is one of the largest monasteries in Europe. Partly ruined by the lava eruption of 1669 and the earthquake of 1693, it was renovated in Eastern Sicilian Late Baroque style. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 'Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily)' for exemplifying earthquake Baroque architecture. Today it is home to the Department of Humanities of the University of Catania.

The complex integrates different styles from various eras. It has the ruins of a domus romana (Roman house) with its peristilio (peristyle), 16thcentury store rooms, kitchens and western courtyard, along with 18thcentury church, kitchens, novitiate and refectory.

The monastic buildings have the original cellar and part of the first floor which were not destroyed in 1693, but subsequent developments had to account for the 12 metre high lava stack that was deposited in 1669. The Garden of the Novices was laid out on this bed of lava from 1669. The southern and eastern facades have Late Baroque and Churrigueresque work on the windows and balconies. The building has a symmetrical layout with two large square cloisters, along which are the corridors lined with the monks' cells. The east cloister has a colonnaded arcade around a garden and the Caffeaos with colorful majolica. The west cloister or marble cloister has 14 of its original columns around a marble fountain, and the university library in the basement. The library (Biblioteche Civiche Riunite Ursino Recupero) is spread over 3 main areas - the reading hall inside the erstwhile museum of the Benedictines, the circular dining room, and the Sala Vaccarini with the original frescoes by Giovanni Battista Piparo and wooden shelves of the original library. The collection of books includes the monks' herbarium and 270,000 volumes of books, scrolls, manuscripts, miniature Bibles, prints, photographs, and other rare stuff.

The eighteenth century kitchens had 2 levels - the upper level for the ovens and the lower for storage. The upper level has white Siracusa stone decorated with Vietri ceramics. The lower level is now home to the Museo della Fabbrica.

The unfinished Church of San Nicolò by Giovanni Battista Contini is noted for its giant organ of 2916 pipes built under Abbot Donato del Piano, and a meridian from 1841. It has a shrine dedicated to the fallen of World War I and II in the sacristy by Vaccari.