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 character of Badia Sant’Agata

A prominent church

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

Discovering the mother church

Feast days

A new site for a new church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The church of Carmine

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new city

One city, three sites

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

An eagle-shaped city

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

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

A museum to save a tradition

A talking palace

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A feast only for Scicli

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A colourful floor

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Maiolica of the staircase

Two illustrious patron saints

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A city in colour

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Between white and black

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A triumph of colour

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

A small room with a golden entrance

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The wall comes to life

The Burgos crucifix

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The disastrous earthquake

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A half-Baroque church

The city of museums

The Baroque town by the sea

Some masterpieces

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A square as the heart of the city

Wonderful quick decorations

One city, two sites

A long reconstruction

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Some prestigious works

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

St. Sebastian, so much work!

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A symbol for the town

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Searching for colour

A majestic and luminous church

Many owners, one palace

New roads for Catania

The internal colours

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A miniature city

The Staircase of Angels

The chocolate of Modica

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Feasting in Palazzolo

Norman apses

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction