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 senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The church of Carmine

From International Gothic to present day

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Wonderful quick decorations

A miniature city

Feast days

A prominent church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A majestic and luminous church

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

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Between white and black

The internal colours

One city, two sites

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

A small room with a golden entrance

Searching for colour

The Staircase of Angels

Many owners, one palace

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Some masterpieces

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A hall for the feasts

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A square as the heart of the city

One city, three sites

A symbol for the town

A talking palace

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

The disastrous earthquake

The wall comes to life

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A new site for a new church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Norman apses

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A half-Baroque church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The two churches

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Baroque town by the sea

A long reconstruction

An eagle-shaped city

A colourful floor

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A feast only for Scicli

The city of museums

A new site for a new city

The Maiolica of the staircase

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The theatre of taste

A triumph of colour

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Two illustrious patron saints

Prominent façade

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A museum to save a tradition

The colours of the cathedral

The chocolate of Modica

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Discovering the mother church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A city in colour

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