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 Burgos crucifix

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Feast days

Some masterpieces

The internal colours

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A triumph of colour

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

A feast only for Scicli

A symbol for the town

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The church of Carmine

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Many owners, one palace

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The disastrous earthquake

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

New roads for Catania

Discovering the mother church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

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

Searching for colour

A long reconstruction

From International Gothic to present day

The Baroque town by the sea

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new site for a new church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Prominent façade

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A square as the heart of the city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The chocolate of Modica

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A miniature city

Feasting in Palazzolo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A half-Baroque church

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Staircase of Angels

An eagle-shaped city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A talking palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A museum to save a tradition

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A city in colour

A colourful floor

The interior and its masterpieces

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Some prestigious works

One city, three sites

The city of museums

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Norman apses

One city, two sites

The Maiolica of the staircase

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The wall comes to life

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A small room with a golden entrance

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Two illustrious patron saints

A new site for a new city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A majestic and luminous church

The theatre of taste