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 prominent church

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

The Staircase of Angels

Many owners, one palace

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Norman apses

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

From International Gothic to present day

A colourful floor

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

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A museum to save a tradition

The Burgos crucifix

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A half-Baroque church

A small room with a golden entrance

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

Searching for colour

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The disastrous earthquake

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

A hall for the feasts

Discovering the mother church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The chocolate of Modica

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A majestic and luminous church

A new site for a new city

A triumph of colour

Wonderful quick decorations

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The theatre of taste

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Between white and black

Some masterpieces

The Baroque town by the sea

The two churches

Some prestigious works

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

An eagle-shaped city

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Two illustrious patron saints

A city in colour

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

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

One city, three sites

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new church

The church of Carmine

The city of museums

The wall comes to life

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Prominent façade

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The interior and its masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

Feast days

The Maiolica of the staircase

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

One city, two sites

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

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

A feast only for Scicli

A square as the heart of the city

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

New roads for Catania

A long reconstruction

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