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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Baroque town by the sea

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A new site for a new church

A city in colour

The Maiolica of the staircase

A museum to save a tradition

One city, three sites

An eagle-shaped city

A long reconstruction

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A square as the heart of the city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Prominent façade

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Feast days

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The colours of the cathedral

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

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A symbol for the town

A feast only for Scicli

Discovering the mother church

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

A talking palace

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Many owners, one palace

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Two illustrious patron saints

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A prominent church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The theatre of taste

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

From International Gothic to present day

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Wonderful quick decorations

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A half-Baroque church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Norman apses

A hall for the feasts

Some masterpieces

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

One city, two sites

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

New roads for Catania

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The church of Carmine

The internal colours

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A miniature city

The disastrous earthquake

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new city

Between white and black

The Burgos crucifix

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The interior and its masterpieces

Some prestigious works

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

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

The chocolate of Modica

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A majestic and luminous church

A small room with a golden entrance

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The wall comes to life

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The city of museums

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A colourful floor

A triumph of colour