Ragusa

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

porzione di palazzoPalazzo La Rocca was built not far from the Cathedral of San Giorgio (St. George), on Via Capitano Bocchieri in the old Ibla. Today it is the head office of the Provincial Tourist Board and no longer the home of wealthy aristocrats.
The La Rocca family, in particular Don Saverio La Rocca, Baron of Sant’Ippolito, commissioned the new palace around 1765. The building has an irregular rectangular plan and was built according to the fashion of the time, in late Baroque style.
The façade is the main feature on the street, with eight balconies on the first storey, a long cornice at the top and an entrance portal in the centre between two pilasters .

Palazzo La Rocca
Palazzo La Rocca was built in the old Ibla. The building is characterized by the late Baroque style. The facade is therefore the absolute protagonist of the street with eight balconies on the first floor and is completed in the upper part by a long ledge. In the central part you recognize the access portal located between two pilasters. The corbels of Palazzo La Rocca are positioned under the balconies, three for each, as supports. Each balcony tells a different story. From right to left are: the cherubim balcony; the second and third are dedicated to music; the fourth is the representation of a woman who takes care of her child; follows the balcony above the very simple entrance door, is adorned with a central shell and vegetable decorations in the side shelves; the sixth is the balcony of the Cupini, three pairs of putti tied in a tender embrace; the seventh has a Telamone that seems to support all the weight of the balcony alone; The last one is the Horseman.

scala pietra peceThe new building has a ground floor, a first floor, an attic (loft) and a basement.
Today in the basement area you can still admire some of the remains of the walls and arcades of the family’s old properties, on top of which the new palace was built.
From the large entrance door you enter an expansive atrium where you can admire the beautiful pietra pece staircase.
The interior still features 18th-century furnishings, doors and flooring in pietra pece and maiolica .

A new site for a new city

An eagle-shaped city

Two illustrious patron saints

Searching for colour

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Prominent façade

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The theatre of taste

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

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A triumph of colour

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A talking palace

The Maiolica of the staircase

A colourful floor

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Norman apses

A museum to save a tradition

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

The disastrous earthquake

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A city in colour

New roads for Catania

A small room with a golden entrance

Wonderful quick decorations

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Many owners, one palace

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feast days

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A symbol for the town

From International Gothic to present day

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The city of museums

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The two churches

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

A prominent church

The Baroque town by the sea

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Feasting in Palazzolo

A feast only for Scicli

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The internal colours

A majestic and luminous church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

A long reconstruction

The church of Carmine

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The wall comes to life

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Discovering the mother church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

One city, two sites

Some prestigious works

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Staircase of Angels

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A new site for a new church

Between white and black

The colours of the cathedral

The chocolate of Modica

The interior and its masterpieces

Some masterpieces

A square as the heart of the city