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

Searching for colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The internal colours

One city, three sites

A feast only for Scicli

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Discovering the mother church

Norman apses

The city of museums

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A prominent church

The Burgos crucifix

Some prestigious works

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A small room with a golden entrance

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The interior and its masterpieces

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

Prominent façade

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A colourful floor

A museum to save a tradition

The theatre of taste

The colours of the cathedral

A talking palace

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A majestic and luminous church

The Staircase of Angels

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

An eagle-shaped city

A new site for a new city

The disastrous earthquake

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

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

From International Gothic to present day

Feast days

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The chocolate of Modica

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

One city, two sites

A new site for a new church

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Some masterpieces

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

Two illustrious patron saints

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

A symbol for the town

Between white and black

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A half-Baroque church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A square as the heart of the city

A long reconstruction

The two churches

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Baroque town by the sea

A miniature city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The church of Carmine

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A hall for the feasts

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The wall comes to life

St. Sebastian, so much work!

New roads for Catania

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)