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

Prominent façade

From International Gothic to present day

The two churches

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

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

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Burgos crucifix

The city of museums

A talking palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Baroque town by the sea

The theatre of taste

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

One city, three sites

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Between white and black

Discovering the mother church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Staircase of Angels

The Maiolica of the staircase

New roads for Catania

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

A symbol for the town

The façade used as a puppet theatre

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A miniature city

The church of Carmine

Wonderful quick decorations

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

A hall for the feasts

Feast days

Feasting in Palazzolo

The wall comes to life

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

A museum to save a tradition

Many owners, one palace

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

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

A small room with a golden entrance

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Two illustrious patron saints

Searching for colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The internal colours

A colourful floor

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A long reconstruction

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

An eagle-shaped city

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The interior and its masterpieces

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

A majestic and luminous church

A prominent church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Some masterpieces

A triumph of colour

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A square as the heart of the city

A feast only for Scicli

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Norman apses

Some prestigious works

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The chocolate of Modica

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

One city, two sites