Ragusa

Searching for colour

The interior of the church of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph) is a single large oval-shaped room.
The Friar Alberto Maria di San Giovanni Battista most likely took inspiration for its floor plan from the church of Santa Chiara (St. Claire) in Noto.
The architect friar had two entrances built, one from Piazza Pola and the other directly from the convent for access by the nuns. As you enter the church you are surprised and overwhelmed by its very high ceiling, an effect achieved thanks to the majestic dome and the four windows that fill the space with light.
Ingresso verso l’altare foto dal basso verso l’alto della cupola
As for the walls, they were left white with some golden stucco decoration.
This pallor, however, is immediately broken up by four colourful altars placed along the walls, the painting on the high altar and the vault fresco.

zoom affresco della volta
affresco della volta

The painting with the Holy Family was created by painter Matteo Battaglia from Ragusa and the fresco with the Glory of St. Benedict is the work of Sebastiano Lo Monaco, an artist from Catania.
To add colour to the room, and to create a strong contrast with the white walls, black pietra pece was used for the floor, which features a white limestone decoration.
uno degli altari sulle pareti pavimento

The disastrous earthquake

The two churches

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A feast only for Scicli

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A long reconstruction

A majestic and luminous church

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Searching for colour

A museum to save a tradition

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Between white and black

The colours of the cathedral

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Maiolica of the staircase

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A small room with a golden entrance

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Staircase of Angels

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Some masterpieces

The chocolate of Modica

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

From International Gothic to present day

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A talking palace

Prominent façade

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

New roads for Catania

Some prestigious works

Two illustrious patron saints

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Wonderful quick decorations

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

Feast days

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

An eagle-shaped city

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

A new site for a new city

The Burgos crucifix

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Norman apses

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Feasting in Palazzolo

A square as the heart of the city

The theatre of taste

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The internal colours

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

One city, two sites

The wall comes to life

The city of museums

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A half-Baroque church

A triumph of colour

A miniature city

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A colourful floor

A city in colour

Discovering the mother church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A symbol for the town

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A hall for the feasts

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The church of Carmine

A new site for a new church

The Baroque town by the sea