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 Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

New roads for Catania

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A long reconstruction

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new site for a new city

A feast only for Scicli

The Staircase of Angels

The internal colours

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

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

A square as the heart of the city

A miniature city

An eagle-shaped city

Many owners, one palace

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

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

The chocolate of Modica

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A prominent church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The Burgos crucifix

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new site for a new church

Discovering the mother church

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A museum to save a tradition

A small room with a golden entrance

Some masterpieces

Norman apses

The interior and its masterpieces

The theatre of taste

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Between white and black

The two churches

The colours of the cathedral

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

Some prestigious works

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

From International Gothic to present day

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

Prominent façade

The Baroque town by the sea

Two illustrious patron saints

Feast days

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The city of museums

A talking palace

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A majestic and luminous church

A symbol for the town

The wall comes to life

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The disastrous earthquake

Searching for colour

A triumph of colour

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

One city, three sites

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A city in colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe