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 senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

From International Gothic to present day

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A symbol for the town

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The church of Carmine

A museum to save a tradition

Feast days

New roads for Catania

Between white and black

The Baroque town by the sea

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A hall for the feasts

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A half-Baroque church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A miniature city

Discovering the mother church

One city, three sites

A prominent church

Searching for colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

A feast only for Scicli

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Two illustrious patron saints

The city of museums

Many owners, one palace

Prominent façade

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The theatre of taste

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The wall comes to life

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

A long reconstruction

A talking palace

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A city in colour

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The disastrous earthquake

The two churches

A majestic and luminous church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The internal colours

A new site for a new church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

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

A colourful floor

One city, two sites

Norman apses

The interior and its masterpieces

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Some prestigious works

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A triumph of colour

Some masterpieces

A small room with a golden entrance

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Maiolica of the staircase

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The colours of the cathedral

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The chocolate of Modica

The Staircase of Angels

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)