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

Two illustrious patron saints

A museum to save a tradition

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The church of Carmine

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

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The theatre of taste

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A talking palace

A new site for a new city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

New roads for Catania

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

Norman apses

From International Gothic to present day

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Feast days

A feast only for Scicli

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

Wonderful quick decorations

An eagle-shaped city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Some prestigious works

A small room with a golden entrance

The wall comes to life

Discovering the mother church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Prominent façade

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

One city, three sites

A square as the heart of the city

The Staircase of Angels

The two churches

A miniature city

The interior and its masterpieces

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Searching for colour

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

A half-Baroque church

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

One city, two sites

The Burgos crucifix

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Some masterpieces

The internal colours

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A majestic and luminous church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A long reconstruction

Many owners, one palace

A hall for the feasts

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Feasting in Palazzolo

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The Baroque town by the sea

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A city in colour

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A prominent church

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The disastrous earthquake

A new site for a new church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The colours of the cathedral

A colourful floor

The city of museums