Via dei Crociferi is the emblem of Baroque architecture in Catania. In just over 200 metres, from the Arch of San Benedetto to the Church of San Camillo, a variety of eighteenth-century churches and palaces of rare beauty are concentrated. The elegant street was built after the 1693 earthquake halfway up the slope of the Montevergine hill.
Legend has it that the arch of San Benedetto (1704) was built ina single night at the behest of the bishop Monrsignor Riggio to replace an old illegal walkway tha connected the old benedectine monastery with the benectine nuns. The arch therefore unites the buldings of the large Badia, a work by Francesco Battaglia, and the small Badia attributed to Giovan Battista Vaccarini.
The Church of San Francesco Borgia is equipped with a double flight of stairs and has a linear facade. The interior has three naves with the façade of the church, characterized by paired marble columns. Inside, the marble side altars present works by 18th century Catania painters.
The former Jesuit Convent, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was, with its Sicilian Baroque style façade and the large staircase leading inside, the most beautiful building of the Society of Jesus in Sicily.
