Architecture Around the World ............... Sicily

Quattro Canti and Sancto Joseph Church
Palermo, Sicily
TEXT Beneath Illustrations


Quattro Canti

Quattro Canti

Quattro Canti

Quattro Canti

One of the Baroque facades / corners of the Quattro Canti

The Baroque building behind the corner is Sancto Joseph.

Sancto Joseph terra cotta tile roof behind the Quattro Canti facade

Baroque

Cartouche

Scroll buttresses

Baroque

Corinthian order (pilasters, not columns)

Partially fluted Ionic column.

Roman (shaft not fluted) Doric column in front of banded pilaster

Statue and fountain which is ornamented with festoons

Sancto Joseph

Sancto Joseph

Sancto Joseph

Sancto Joseph

Sancto Joseph cupola behind a building with a hipped roof covered with terra cotta tiles and ridge crest

Baroque lantern allows natural light in the cupola

Cross surmounts the Baroque lantern which allows natural light in the cupola

Terra cotta tiles on the cupola

Built 1612 ... Restored after WW2 from 1945-1966

Baroque chapel features inlaid marble

Baroque chapel altar railing features marble balusters and base with inlaid marble in the rest of the railing

Inlaid marble


Quattro Canti: The intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda is Palermo's most fashionable square. Quattro Canti dates from 1600, when the new town plan was put into effect and the city was divided into four parts.

The piazza is rounded, shaped by the four concave façades of the four corner buildings (hence the name) with superimposed architectual orders - Doric, Corinthian and Ionic.

Each facade is decorated with a fountain and statues of patron saints, of the seasons, and of the Spainish kings.

Saint Joseph Church: Located directly behind the corner pictured on this page. The inlaid marble in some of the chapels is exquisite.


Photos and their arrangement © 2007 Chuck LaChiusa
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