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

A museum to save a tradition

The disastrous earthquake

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Between white and black

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Burgos crucifix

The chocolate of Modica

A hall for the feasts

A prominent church

The city of museums

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

One city, three sites

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Two illustrious patron saints

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The church of Carmine

A colourful floor

The colours of the cathedral

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A symbol for the town

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Wonderful quick decorations

A talking palace

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A miniature city

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Norman apses

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

New roads for Catania

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

A city in colour

Some masterpieces

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A square as the heart of the city

A half-Baroque church

A small room with a golden entrance

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

One city, two sites

The theatre of taste

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Feast days

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

A triumph of colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The two churches

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The internal colours

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Some prestigious works

The Staircase of Angels

Feasting in Palazzolo

The wall comes to life

A majestic and luminous church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Discovering the mother church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Many owners, one palace

A new site for a new church

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

From International Gothic to present day

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

A new site for a new city

A long reconstruction

An eagle-shaped city

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A feast only for Scicli

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