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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The church of Carmine

The Staircase of Angels

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Many owners, one palace

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The city of museums

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The two churches

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

One city, three sites

A new site for a new church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A miniature city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new site for a new city

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

A hall for the feasts

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

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

A museum to save a tradition

Between white and black

The theatre of taste

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The internal colours

A long reconstruction

Some masterpieces

The disastrous earthquake

One city, two sites

Wonderful quick decorations

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The interior and its masterpieces

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A feast only for Scicli

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Some prestigious works

The chocolate of Modica

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A prominent church

Discovering the mother church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Feast days

A city in colour

Searching for colour

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A majestic and luminous church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A symbol for the town

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The wall comes to life

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

A talking palace

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

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

A triumph of colour

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Maiolica of the staircase

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A colourful floor

From International Gothic to present day

The Burgos crucifix

Two illustrious patron saints

New roads for Catania

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

The Baroque town by the sea