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

Prominent façade

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The chocolate of Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A prominent church

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

The church of Carmine

A new site for a new church

The Staircase of Angels

The Baroque town by the sea

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

New roads for Catania

Norman apses

Some prestigious works

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A hall for the feasts

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A square as the heart of the city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The colours of the cathedral

Many owners, one palace

A long reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A majestic and luminous church

The city of museums

A triumph of colour

A half-Baroque church

Feast days

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A new site for a new city

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

The theatre of taste

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A small room with a golden entrance

Some masterpieces

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

An eagle-shaped city

From International Gothic to present day

One city, two sites

The Burgos crucifix

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

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

Between white and black

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A symbol for the town

A city in colour

A colourful floor

The internal colours

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A museum to save a tradition

A miniature city

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The wall comes to life

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The two churches

A talking palace

Two illustrious patron saints

A feast only for Scicli

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Connections with other UNESCO sites

One city, three sites