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

Discovering the mother church

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Prominent façade

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A city in colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The city of museums

The colours of the cathedral

Searching for colour

Norman apses

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

A talking palace

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The church of Carmine

Wonderful quick decorations

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

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

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Baroque town by the sea

Many owners, one palace

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A triumph of colour

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

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

A prominent church

From International Gothic to present day

A square as the heart of the city

A symbol for the town

The interior and its masterpieces

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Feast days

A hall for the feasts

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new site for a new church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A museum to save a tradition

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Staircase of Angels

Feasting in Palazzolo

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The two churches

The wall comes to life

A majestic and luminous church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The theatre of taste

One city, three sites

Some prestigious works

Limestone, the colour of harmony

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The chocolate of Modica

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

Two illustrious patron saints

Between white and black

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The internal colours

A long reconstruction

A half-Baroque church

A new site for a new city

New roads for Catania

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

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

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

One city, two sites

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The Burgos crucifix

A miniature city