Ragusa

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The church of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph) is located on the corner of Piazza Pola, near the Cathedral of San Giorgio (St. George) in Ibla.foto della piazza che inquadra la chiesa It was built after 1756, when the Benedictine nuns of the nearby convent, led by the abbess Battistina Maria Arezzo, bought the old dilapidated church of San Tommaso Apostolo (Thomas the Apostle). Thanks to them, reconstruction work began for the new church of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph).
The church building was built first, completed in 1774, followed by the demolition of the bell tower and the completion of the external and internal decorations. Foto facciata Initially the design for the new church was attributed to the great architect Rosario Gagliardi because of similarities with his other work, such as the Cathedral of San Giorgio (St. George) and the church of San Domenico (St. Dominic) in Noto. They all featured a horizontal division into three levels, with the final level containing the bell, but opinions have changed over the years and following more in-depth studies. Work by another architect, the Carmelite Friar Alberto Maria di San Giovanni Battista, who worked not only in Ragusa but also on the church of San Giovanni Evangelista (St. John the Evangelist) in Scicli, has a less innovative style than Gagliardi and is more similar to local artistic culture.
Well over seventy years later, Ibla and the Benedictine convent had a functioning new church, enjoyed by nuns and worshippers.
foto Facciata frontale

The Baroque town by the sea

Feast days

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The two churches

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Prominent façade

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A colourful floor

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A prominent church

Discovering the mother church

The disastrous earthquake

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Some prestigious works

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

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

A city in colour

From International Gothic to present day

A museum to save a tradition

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

A majestic and luminous church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A square as the heart of the city

Wonderful quick decorations

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

One city, three sites

The wall comes to life

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

Between white and black

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A small room with a golden entrance

Norman apses

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A symbol for the town

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

A feast only for Scicli

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A long reconstruction

Some masterpieces

The theatre of taste

The colours of the cathedral

One city, two sites

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A triumph of colour

The chocolate of Modica

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Two illustrious patron saints

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

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

A hall for the feasts

The Staircase of Angels

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new site for a new church

A new site for a new city

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

Searching for colour

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

An eagle-shaped city

A talking palace

New roads for Catania

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

A miniature city

Feasting in Palazzolo

The church of Carmine

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Many owners, one palace

The internal colours

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Maiolica of the staircase