Ragusa

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

hearing
Angelic song

On 24 June 1858 the church resounded with festivities.
The great organ was inaugurated, with more than three thousand pipes and a gigantic wooden cantoria (a structure built to house the choir). We can only imagine the sweet sound that accompanied that moment.
The organ still works today and can be found in the right chapel before the transept, while the cantoria was placed above the main portal.
For centuries, music and angelic songs have been an integral part of liturgical functions.
foto organo foto organo nella prima cappella di destra del transetto

touch
Pietra pece, a special stone

The dark, petroleum-infused pietra pece of the floor smells like petrol and leaves a coat of grease on your fingers like oil!
This unique rock is widely used because its particular composition can make a room resistant to humidity.

sight
Diversity makes everything more special

The two-tone interior makes the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist) wonderful. The white walls combined with the black floor enhances both elements and adds liveliness to the environment.
Once inside the church of St. John the Baptist, our sense of sight is also stimulated by the colourful altars that crowd the side naves.
Red, green, white, gold, and even the black of the balustrades stimulate the visitor’s eye.

A colourful floor

Discovering the mother church

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A small room with a golden entrance

Wonderful quick decorations

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Feast days

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

One city, two sites

A museum to save a tradition

One city, three sites

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Prominent façade

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The chocolate of Modica

Norman apses

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A prominent church

The disastrous earthquake

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some masterpieces

The city of museums

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Two illustrious patron saints

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The interior and its masterpieces

A hall for the feasts

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The two churches

Between white and black

A half-Baroque church

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Modica, a city with ancient origins

From International Gothic to present day

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A symbol for the town

A majestic and luminous church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Searching for colour

The Burgos crucifix

Feasting in Palazzolo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

The Staircase of Angels

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Some prestigious works

A feast only for Scicli

A square as the heart of the city

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

The internal colours

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A talking palace

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

A city in colour

A long reconstruction

The theatre of taste

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

A triumph of colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The church of Carmine

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

A new site for a new city

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

The wall comes to life

A new site for a new church

New roads for Catania