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 Staircase of Angels

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Some masterpieces

A square as the heart of the city

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

A feast only for Scicli

The disastrous earthquake

A museum to save a tradition

Norman apses

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

Two illustrious patron saints

A triumph of colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The chocolate of Modica

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A hall for the feasts

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A small room with a golden entrance

New roads for Catania

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Feast days

A long reconstruction

The church of Carmine

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Burgos crucifix

A colourful floor

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A prominent church

The theatre of taste

Feasting in Palazzolo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A half-Baroque church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Maiolica of the staircase

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A symbol for the town

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Searching for colour

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Many owners, one palace

The Baroque town by the sea

A city in colour

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The city of museums

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

From International Gothic to present day

A new site for a new city

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

A talking palace

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

An eagle-shaped city

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

Prominent façade

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The colours of the cathedral

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Between white and black

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

A miniature city

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The two churches

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

One city, two sites

The wall comes to life

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new site for a new church