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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The wall comes to life

Discovering the mother church

A majestic and luminous church

A prominent church

The city of museums

Some prestigious works

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A miniature city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

A feast only for Scicli

The Baroque town by the sea

The Burgos crucifix

The Maiolica of the staircase

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

An eagle-shaped city

A talking palace

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

From International Gothic to present day

The two churches

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Norman apses

One city, two sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A triumph of colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Feast days

A half-Baroque church

A new site for a new city

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A Nobel Prize in Modica

New roads for Catania

A colourful floor

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

A long reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Searching for colour

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

One city, three sites

A small room with a golden entrance

Two illustrious patron saints

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A new site for a new church

A hall for the feasts

Some masterpieces

Between white and black

A museum to save a tradition

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Staircase of Angels

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

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Wonderful quick decorations

The internal colours

Prominent façade

The church of Carmine

The colours of the cathedral

A symbol for the town

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The chocolate of Modica

A city in colour

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci