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

A new site for a new city

The disastrous earthquake

New roads for Catania

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

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new site for a new church

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A city in colour

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Feast days

A miniature city

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

Two illustrious patron saints

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

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

A half-Baroque church

Between white and black

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The wall comes to life

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

The Burgos crucifix

The Maiolica of the staircase

A hall for the feasts

Some masterpieces

The Staircase of Angels

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The interior and its masterpieces

The city of museums

A long reconstruction

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Many owners, one palace

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Searching for colour

A symbol for the town

Some prestigious works

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The church of Carmine

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The two churches

A prominent church

One city, three sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A museum to save a tradition

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A small room with a golden entrance

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Norman apses

The theatre of taste

A colourful floor

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Prominent façade

An eagle-shaped city

The internal colours

One city, two sites

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A triumph of colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From International Gothic to present day

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A talking palace

A square as the heart of the city

The chocolate of Modica