Santa Chiara is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on Via Garibaldi #100 in the center of the city of

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, Region of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Italy. The monastery located behind the church presently houses a gallery of modern art.

History and description

Nuns of the Clarissan order established themselves there in the 16th century, with a donation by Baron Antonio Paternò of his home and belongings, to which was added and endowment by Chiara Statella. The site was adapted into a convent in 1563, but nearly razed by the

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake was a natural disaster that struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, then a territory part of the Crown of Aragon by the Kings of Spain Calabria and Malta, on 11 January at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was ...

leading to reconstruction using designs by

Giuseppe Palazzotto Giuseppe Palazzotto (1702 – 1764) was an Italian architect, active in Catania, Sicily. He used a Baroque style, and was employed extensively during the flurry of reconstruction, after the 1693 Sicily earthquake which nearly flattened his native c ...

. The church and convent were completed by 1760. The three-story facade of the church on Via Garibaldi is small and unassuming. On the third floor a three arch loggia allowed the nuns to observe the yearly Procession of Sant'Agata which departed from

Sant'Agata alla Fornace San Biagio, previously called Sant'Agata alla Fornace or ''La Fornace'' or ''Carcara'' is a Neoclassical architecture, Roman Catholic parish church located at the western edge of the Piazza Stesicoro in the quartiere San Biagio della Calcarella, ...

to the

Cathedral of Catania The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Agatha (), usually known as the Catania Cathedral (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It was the seat of the Bishops of Catania until 1859, when the diocese was elevated to an a ...

. The interiors are more elaborate, with floors decorated with polychrome marble, and a painted and gold-plated choir stall above the vestibule. There are five altarpieces. The octagonal nave has a large ceiling fresco depicting the ''Triumph of the Clarissan Order'' (1766) by

Olivio Sozzi Olivio may refer to: * Olivio (restaurant), Dutch Michelin starred restaurant People * Olívio Dutra Olívio de Oliveira Dutra (; born 10 June 1941 in Bossoroca, Rio Grande do Sul) is a Brazilian politician. He is a founding member of the W ...

.Entry in Necrologie of Repubblica

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiara 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Catania