Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte
The Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte is Caltagirone’s most celebrated landmark — a monumental outdoor stairway of 142 steps linking the lower town to the hilltop church of Santa Maria del Monte, entirely clad in polychrome majolica tiles that give it the appearance of a vast ceramic painting. Originally built in 1608 and embellished with its characteristic tile risers in 1954, the staircase has become the defining symbol of Caltagirone’s unbroken ceramic tradition and earned it a place within the UNESCO World Heritage inscription of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto in 2002.
- Type
- Monumental public staircase
- Period
- Built 1608; ceramic tile decoration added 1954
- Style
- Baroque urban infrastructure; Sicilian majolica ceramic decoration
- Location
- Caltagirone, Province of Catania, Sicily, Italy
- Coordinates
- 37.2386° N, 14.5123° E
At a glance
- Type
- Monumental outdoor staircase with ceramic tile cladding
- Period
- 1608 (construction); 1954 (majolica decoration)
- Style
- Baroque civic architecture; traditional Sicilian ceramics
- Location
- Via Luigi Sturzo, Caltagirone, Province of Catania, Sicily
Overview
Caltagirone has produced ceramics for more than two and a half millennia, and the Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte is the most spectacular expression of that tradition. Its 142 steps rise steeply through the heart of the upper historic quarter, each riser decorated with a distinct majolica tile panel designed and fired by local artisans. The staircase is both a functioning urban thoroughfare and an open-air museum of Sicilian decorative art, drawing visitors from around the world who climb it to admire the ceramic narrative that unfolds step by step.
History
The stairway was first constructed in 1606–1608 to provide the principal access route from the lower Baroque town to the hilltop church of Santa Maria del Monte, the spiritual heart of medieval Caltagirone. For three centuries the steps remained plain stone, functional rather than decorative. In 1954, to celebrate the fourth centenary of the town’s Dominican college, the city administration commissioned local ceramic workshops to clad every step riser with a unique majolica panel. Each panel was designed by a different artisan, resulting in a staircase where no two risers are identical, collectively tracing the iconographic and stylistic development of Caltagirone ceramics from antiquity to the modern era.
What you see
The staircase ascends in a single straight flight of 142 steps set between whitewashed stone balustrades, framed on either side by traditional buildings of the Baroque quarter. The ceramic risers display a dazzling range of patterns, from geometric Arab-influenced interlacings and Renaissance grotesques to Baroque floral compositions and modern figurative scenes. At the summit stands the church of Santa Maria del Monte, its façade overlooking the entire lower town. Twice a year — on the feasts of San Giacomo in July and the Immaculate Conception in December — the staircase is lit entirely by oil lamps and candles, transforming the ceramic surface into a luminous spectacle.
Cultural significance
The Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte is recognised as one of the masterpieces of Sicilian decorative culture and was a key element in Caltagirone’s inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2002 alongside the other Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto. It represents the living continuity of a local craft tradition that has survived Arab, Norman, Spanish, and Italian rule, and continues to be sustained by dozens of active ceramic workshops in the town today. The staircase’s biannual illumination ceremonies are among the most atmospheric folk events in Sicily.
Practical information
- Address
- Via Luigi Sturzo, 95041 Caltagirone CT, Sicily, Italy
- Access
- Open at all times; no admission charge
- Best time to visit
- Early morning or evening to avoid midday heat; San Giacomo feast (July 24–25) and Immaculate Conception (December 8) for the illumination
Getting there
Caltagirone is accessible by bus from Catania (approx. 1.5 hours) and by regional rail on the Catania–Gela line, though bus services are more frequent. By car, take the SS417 from Catania. The staircase is located at the top of Via Luigi Sturzo in the upper historic centre; parking is available at the edges of the historic zone and the staircase is a short walk from the main piazza.