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 wall comes to life

A hall for the feasts

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The disastrous earthquake

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Prominent façade

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The colours of the cathedral

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Feasting in Palazzolo

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A half-Baroque church

The Staircase of Angels

Between white and black

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A feast only for Scicli

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Wonderful quick decorations

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

Some prestigious works

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A talking palace

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

The church of Carmine

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The chocolate of Modica

New roads for Catania

Some masterpieces

A miniature city

A prominent church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A square as the heart of the city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The city of museums

A long reconstruction

One city, three sites

A majestic and luminous church

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From International Gothic to present day

A museum to save a tradition

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

Feast days

Two illustrious patron saints

The Maiolica of the staircase

A colourful floor

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

A symbol for the town

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

One city, two sites

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The theatre of taste

The Burgos crucifix

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A triumph of colour

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

St. Sebastian, so much work!

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Discovering the mother church

A new site for a new church

The Baroque town by the sea

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano