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 Burgos crucifix

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Staircase of Angels

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A feast only for Scicli

A colourful floor

A prominent church

Wonderful quick decorations

A long reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Feast days

A new site for a new city

The disastrous earthquake

The Maiolica of the staircase

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

New roads for Catania

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

Discovering the mother church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The city of museums

A talking palace

A miniature city

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

One city, three sites

Many owners, one palace

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Prominent façade

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new site for a new church

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The chocolate of Modica

A small room with a golden entrance

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Searching for colour

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

One city, two sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A triumph of colour

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A museum to save a tradition

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

The internal colours

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Some prestigious works

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A square as the heart of the city

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The wall comes to life

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

An eagle-shaped city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

From International Gothic to present day

The Baroque town by the sea

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The church of Carmine

A hall for the feasts

A half-Baroque church

A majestic and luminous church

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The interior and its masterpieces

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Between white and black

The theatre of taste

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)