THIS IS MY SCHOOL

Comprehensive Institute “ FABRIZIO DE ANDRE’ “ Aci Sant’Antonio

Our school develops itself on three levels:

Infant school (which includes 3 to 5 years old pupils)

Primary school (which includes 6 to 9/10 years old pupils)

First degree secondary school (which includes 11 to 13/14 years old pupils)

Infant school, primary school and two first degree secondary school classes are located in the principal seat in Aci Sant’Antonio.

WELCOME!

Most of first degree secondary school classes are located in S. Maria la Stella.

My school is located in Santa Maria La Stella

Santa Maria la Stella is a small village nearby Catania, it is a quiet village on a hill, where we all know each other.

My school is not very large too, but the environment is very nice and comfortable…

here we do many activities:

 

'Recycling' laboratories of used materials…

…artistic creations and ceramics

….remedial cours

We have a language lab ...

and a computer lab, too

But ... the best thing is "recreation" we take all TOGETHER in our “great

courtyard”

A few minutes from Santa Maria la Stella is located Acireale, a pretty town near the sea.

Acireale is a city full of ancient legends and famous for its

Carnival

Aci and Galatea The Carnival

The Cathedral

It has an elegant historic centre and a buzzing local life. The splendid Duomo Square is a beautiful Baroque gathering spot flanked by inspiring architecture. Acireale is home to the oldest art academy in Sicily.

Basilica of Saint Sebastian

Not very far from the Cathedral, the Basilica of Saint Sebastian rises, the building dates from the second half of the XVII century and is dedicated to the second patron saint of the town .

The baroque façade is spectacular and has characteristics that are also found in many of

the churches of the Val di Noto.

Noto, in the province of Syracuse, in the south-eastern part of Sicily, is one of the "baroque jewels" in the island. Thanks to the magnificent architectural details of its churches and nobiliary buildings, the town  belongs to the world culture heritage list of Unesco. The town is also

known as "stone garden”

.

Noto was rebuilt from the year 1693, after a tremendous hearthquake which had destroyed the ancient medieval town (the few ruins are nowadays visible in Noto antica, an archaeological area located at about 10 Km from Noto). For this reason, the town center was built in an uniform baroque style

Cathedral of Noto

SS. Salvatore monastery in Noto

 Walking along the main street you will encounter an impressing sequence of sumptuous religious buildings: the San Francesco all'Immacolata church, the Santissimo Salvatore monastery, the Santa Chiara church.

In the main square it's possible to visit the imponent cathedral of San Nicolò” and it's also possible to visit Palazzo Ducezio, the town hall and to admire the archbishop's palace and palazzo Landolina.

Santa Chiara church.

palazzo Landolina

Palazzo Ducezio

Going on the main street, you will see the baroque San Carlo Borromeo church and in front of it, via Nicolaci. This street is famous for  palazzo Nicolaci, a nobiliary building with wonderful baroque balconies. Via Nicolaci is also famous for the yearly "Infiorata flower festival", which is organised in May and attracts thousand of tourists .

palazzo Nicolaci

Infiorata

The "corso" ends with the elegant fontana d'Ercole (fountain of Hercules), the baroque San Domenico church and the neoclassic theater.

fountain of Hercules

CATANIA: Palazzo Biscari Ignatius Paternò Castello,

the fifth prince of Biscari, realized his dream of preserving his imperial baroque residence founded on the fifteenth century city walls of the city of Catania. Palazzo Biscari is kept as the most beautiful and well kept palace in Catania, just as Prince Ignatius dreamed, a treasure to be enjoyed by all.

It was constructed after the 1693 earthquake on its fifteenth century foundations built by Charles V and spared by the earthquake. The initial phase of construction was commissioned by Vicenzo Paterno' Castello, IV prince of Biscari, and concluded by Ignatius Paterno' Castello, V prince Biscari. Thanks to the latter, the palace acquired fame as a cultural center. When in 1758 the prince inaugurated a museum that displayed his precious archaeological collections, the Biscari Palace became a necessary meeting place for erudites.

The Biscari palace is composed by seven hundred rooms, it is located in the old quarter of Catania behind the popular down town area, overlooking the port on the famous marina arches. Up until the 20's, the sea water reached the precipitous bastions and from the nearby Villa Pacini , called Villa 'e varagghi or villa of sighs by the townspeople since in the past only retirees enjoyed its beaches, people used to take the steamer for the beaches of the Plaja.

Eventually, the water's edge retired and after a second intervention the water moved far away from the palace, becoming the elegant and desired sentinel of Catania.

For centuries travellers, even before entering the Saracena door of Via Etnea had to pass by the elegant dock enriched with limestone, the costly white stone of Siracusa, contrasted by the basalt black of the Etna.

. From his terrace on the marina, Ignatius the Grand could view and admire his splendid property. The heart of the palace is formed by its halls, conscientiously restored after the 1991 earthquake and thanks to the personal interest of the descendants of Prince Biscari, capable of holding conventions and receptions reflecting Ignatiu's desire to open the palace to society.

The paintings and frescoes are also restored to their original status.To the left of the main courtyard, there are private apartments where eleven members of the family reside, The usability of the palace is therefore in the major courtyard, in the numerous rooms, in the ball room and in the terrace over the port of Catania

A very big double rampart stairway made in basalt from Etna seals the major courtyard which is at the base of the palace; the entrance is a solemn space adorned with seventeenth century paintings of the Biscari State, with its extended vines and the extensive production of silkworm

The central hall, or party room, is composed by a sumptuous rococo' internal piazza adorned with decorations, paintings and portraits of members of the family placed on three levels. On the first level one can admire the members of the prince's family, the second is decorated with minor divinities and finally the third, on the cupola of the loggia of the musicians,

Vulcan celebrates the triumph of the Paterno' Castello family. Here, musicians climbed the stairway resembling a "cloud flake" as the prince himself defined it, an architectural treasure whose structural brilliance remains a mystery that cannot be explained.

In a room between the main hall and the windows there is a staircase that raises and folds like a cloud.

The external balcony is richly decorated with a high relief that symbolises abundance, fertility, prosperity and wisdom.

On the bottom of the hall, decorated with columns of granite and mounted by the family stem one can find an alcove that separates the public part of the palace from the private apartments, there is also a particular bathroom, entirely decorated in wood, with a marble roman floor originating from the excavations of the Catania Roman Spas .

Don’t miss…….the ties between CATANIA and MOUNT ETNA, the highest and most active

VOLCANO in Europe, are strict and

inseparable

Etna dominates the city from on high, drawing the vast landscape that runs from the coastal strip facing the Ionian sea.

The area is protected by the vast ETNA NATURAL PARK established in 1987.

Here are some of the reasons for which UNESCO chose to make the Sicilian mount a member of the WORLD HERITAGE GROUP (June

2013).

Mount Etna

….you can always fell she’s there…

Prodotto da Michele Finocchiaro e tutto il I Istituto Comprensivo Fabrizio de André