Ragusa

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

hearing
Angelic song

On 24 June 1858 the church resounded with festivities.
The great organ was inaugurated, with more than three thousand pipes and a gigantic wooden cantoria (a structure built to house the choir). We can only imagine the sweet sound that accompanied that moment.
The organ still works today and can be found in the right chapel before the transept, while the cantoria was placed above the main portal.
For centuries, music and angelic songs have been an integral part of liturgical functions.
foto organo foto organo nella prima cappella di destra del transetto

touch
Pietra pece, a special stone

The dark, petroleum-infused pietra pece of the floor smells like petrol and leaves a coat of grease on your fingers like oil!
This unique rock is widely used because its particular composition can make a room resistant to humidity.

sight
Diversity makes everything more special

The two-tone interior makes the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist) wonderful. The white walls combined with the black floor enhances both elements and adds liveliness to the environment.
Once inside the church of St. John the Baptist, our sense of sight is also stimulated by the colourful altars that crowd the side naves.
Red, green, white, gold, and even the black of the balustrades stimulate the visitor’s eye.

A long reconstruction

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A city in colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A half-Baroque church

Feasting in Palazzolo

Church of San Giuliano (St. Julian) on Via dei Crociferi: reconstruction

Some masterpieces

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

A symbol for the town

A colourful floor

The senses tell the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A feast only for Scicli

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The colours of the cathedral

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A prominent church

Between white and black

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

A museum to save a tradition

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The internal colours

Discovering the mother church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

An eagle-shaped city

The city of museums

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of Santa Maria del Carmelo

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The chocolate of Modica

The Baroque town by the sea

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A majestic and luminous church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

From International Gothic to present day

A square as the heart of the city

One city, three sites

Some prestigious works

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Staircase of Angels

New roads for Catania

A new site for a new church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

Prominent façade

One city, two sites

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The interior and its masterpieces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Freedom of worship and the role of the Catholic Church in the diffusion of Baroque

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Maiolica of the staircase

The disastrous earthquake

The role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

The church of Carmine

Feast days

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Wonderful quick decorations

A hall for the feasts

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Two illustrious patron saints

A miniature city

A talking palace

The wall comes to life

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The two churches

From the contrast of the exterior to the internal jubilation of colours

Many owners, one palace

Norman apses