Museo Diocesano di Caltagirone

Housed near Caltagirone’s cathedral, the museum preserves vestments, paintings, and liturgical objects gathered from churches across the diocese, reflecting the religious heritage of this UNESCO-listed ceramics center in Sicily.

Planning your visit

Caltagirone is a ceramics town. It has produced maiolica for a thousand years, its name derives from the Arabic for castle of vases, and its famous staircase of 142 steps is faced entirely in hand-painted tiles, each riser a different pattern. The town is UNESCO-listed as part of the late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto, rebuilt after the catastrophic earthquake of 1693.

The Diocesan Museum near the cathedral holds sacred art gathered from churches across the diocese: vestments, panel paintings, sculpture, silver and liturgical objects, much of it brought in from parishes that could no longer maintain or secure it.

Sicilian religious art of this period is distinctive — Spanish influence runs through it, and the Baroque here is more theatrical than on the mainland — and the ceramic tradition surfaces in the objects as well.

The museum is small and best treated as one element of a day in the town rather than a destination.

Bookable options include entrance tickets with audio guides and guided visits with licensed guides. Current availability is listed below.