|
The Church of
San Giorgio in Castelmola Sicily
The present appearance
of the Church of San Giorgio goes back to the 18th
century, but the church's origins are older. It has a
longitudinal plan, with a single aisle and a polygonal
apse. Inside there is a handsome 16th-century baptismal
font attributed to Pietro da Carona.
The Church of San
Giorgio was built in the XVII century. It shows a
bell-tower included in the building and it ends with
four pyramidal pinnacles with angular vertexes.
The plan shows the peculiarity of having a nave
orthogonally inserted on the right side of the main
nave.
Inside it keeps numerous works of art among which two
canvases of the XVII century, that of Madonna del
Rosario con i Santi Domenicani e Francescani (Our Lady
of Rosary together with Domenican and Franciscan Saints)
and that of the Padre Eterno e Immacolata (The Eternal
and Immaculate). Very beautiful is also the wooden
XVIIIth-century statue of Immaculate.
In the historic center of Clauiano the oldest buildings
go back to the 15th cent. and are located mostly near
the Church of S. Giorgio and on Via Borgo S. Martino.
Buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries are more
numerous. Their style is essentially that of the typical
Friulian house: the main entrance facing the street, a
splendid stone doorway and an inside courtyard. Each
house has its own history, which can be best learned by
going to see it.
Casa Gardellini, built in the 15th cent. and considered
the oldest in town, has a white and red decoration with
diamond patterns on its façade.
Villa Ariis represents the typical 18th-century master's
residence in the Veneto-Friuli area, composed of a
house, rustic outbuildings and a large vegetable garden
enclosed by a crenellated wall with two stone columns.
The façade has a stone portal, over which is a mullioned
window and, above that, the Lion of St. Mark. The two
stone patere at the sides of the first story are perhaps
the remembrance of ancient libations to a deity.
The complex of buildings that form Casa Palladino is
situated inside a typical 18th-century Friulian yard
that preserves its original characteristics. The layout
is in the shape of a Z, on two courtyards, on which
there are houses, outbuildings, and the master's house.
Particular decorative elements include the typical
Venetian-style fireplace, the colonnade of the loggia,
the sundial on the façade, the stone column that
supports the portico in front of the stable, the stone
basins of the sink and in the yards, and the fireplaces
in the granary used to warm the rooms where silkworms
were raised.
The nearby Casa Bellotto was built in 1791 and has an
exposed brick façade and an arched stone doorway. The
complex of the Bosco residence was transformed into its
current state in the 18th cent.; the façades of the
rustic buildings have geometric decorations and writing
from the 16th century.
Casa Foffani is a townhouse from the 1800s with
18th-century stuccoed ceilings. The rustic buildings
were used in the 1700s for making and storing wine
(which is still done today), tobacco, and grain for
raising silkworms.
Villa Manin is a fine 18th-century residence of a noble
family of the Friulian plain. It belonged to one of the
most important families of Venice, known also for its
stately villa in Passariano, and was a large production
center, as can be seen by the buildings used for
agricultural purposes, including the foledôr, the
enormous wine cellar next to the main residence. The
villa is classical in style, and is preceded by an "honor
court."
Here, as elsewhere - Casa Menotti, Casa de Checo, Casa
Marcuzzi Zanuttini, Casa Zof Piano - the splendid
portals and stone-framed windows bear witness to the
dignity of the place and the people.
|
