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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A prominent church

Searching for colour

A hall for the feasts

Discovering the mother church

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Many owners, one palace

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Connections with other UNESCO sites

One city, two sites

A long reconstruction

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Staircase of Angels

A triumph of colour

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A museum to save a tradition

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A square as the heart of the city

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The wall comes to life

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The disastrous earthquake

The Maiolica of the staircase

One city, three sites

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

The chocolate of Modica

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Burgos crucifix

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

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Two illustrious patron saints

Some masterpieces

The city of museums

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The interior and its masterpieces

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new church

A symbol for the town

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Prominent façade

The theatre of taste

An eagle-shaped city

The church of Carmine

Some prestigious works

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A talking palace

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

A miniature city

A small room with a golden entrance

Wonderful quick decorations

A new site for a new city

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

A half-Baroque church

Feast days

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A colourful floor

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From International Gothic to present day

The Baroque town by the sea

Feasting in Palazzolo

The internal colours

A city in colour

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

New roads for Catania

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Norman apses

A feast only for Scicli

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The colours of the cathedral

Between white and black

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

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