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 interior and its masterpieces

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

Wonderful quick decorations

A talking palace

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new site for a new city

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

A square as the heart of the city

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

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

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Baroque town by the sea

Norman apses

An eagle-shaped city

Many owners, one palace

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The theatre of taste

The Staircase of Angels

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Two illustrious patron saints

One city, three sites

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

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A triumph of colour

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

From International Gothic to present day

The disastrous earthquake

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A colourful floor

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

A half-Baroque church

A small room with a golden entrance

A new site for a new church

The chocolate of Modica

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A long reconstruction

The internal colours

A symbol for the town

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feast days

A majestic and luminous church

Discovering the mother church

Prominent façade

A museum to save a tradition

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Between white and black

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A hall for the feasts

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

A miniature city

The church of Carmine

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Searching for colour

One city, two sites

The city of museums

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Burgos crucifix

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A prominent church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Maiolica of the staircase

The two churches

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto