2. Cathedral of St. George

The church, close to the Castle of the Counts of Modica, was built in the first decades of the 1100s, undergoing several transformations. The 1693 earthquake destroyed almost all of it, and in 1702, reconstruction began, which continued for over a century, being completed in 1848.
It stands at the top of an imposing staircase made of pitchstone in the shape of a monstrance (Fig. a). The façade, with three orders, rises at the nave with a convex tower façade and overlapping columns, three on each side for all orders, accentuating its verticality (Fig. b). Above the central entrance is a decorative apparatus of great majesty. The first order is completed above with a stone balustrade. The second order, bearing a large window, is connected to the rest of the façade with two large volutes. The third order acts as a belfry and is completed above with an imposing spire bearing a clock (Fig. c).
The richly decorated and gilded stucco interior has a Latin cross plan and is divided into five naves with a transept. At the intersection of the nave and transept rises the dome (Fig. d). All the naves have different heights and each is lighted by high windows.
At the end of the presbytery, a large 16th-century polyptych by Bernardo Niger is placed on a carved wooden tribune (Fig. e).
The interior, on the counter wall of the main façade, also contains the Adoration of the Shepherds, a painting on wood from the end of the 16th century, attributed to Carlo Cane from Piedmont (Fig. f). Initially made of pitchstone, the floor was replaced with marble, and a sundial was drawn before the high altar.