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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A feast only for Scicli

The disastrous earthquake

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

A half-Baroque church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Searching for colour

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The theatre of taste

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Some prestigious works

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The city of museums

A city in colour

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

A colourful floor

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The wall comes to life

A majestic and luminous church

The church of Carmine

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A long reconstruction

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Some masterpieces

A prominent church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A museum to save a tradition

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

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

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new site for a new city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Norman apses

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

A small room with a golden entrance

Between white and black

Discovering the mother church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A square as the heart of the city

A symbol for the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The two churches

A miniature city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Feast days

The internal colours

One city, three sites

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

A new site for a new church

From International Gothic to present day

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Prominent façade

Two illustrious patron saints

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A talking palace

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Staircase of Angels

An eagle-shaped city

The Baroque town by the sea

New roads for Catania

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Many owners, one palace

One city, two sites

The Maiolica of the staircase