Ragusa

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Once past the wrought iron gate that delimits the staircase, the façade of the church of San Giorgio manifests its evocative beauty composed of soft lines modelled by concave and convex walls, the triplets of columns that reinforce the central part of the façade, giving it a typical tower-like appearance and, finally, the sinuous connecting volutes between the different levels that gradually narrow towards the top, in an upward movement amplified by the staircase below.
The late Baroque building seems to be accompanied, in its vertical thrust, by the statue of the eponymous saint on horseback, placed on the volute connecting the first and second levels of the façade elevation. The building works lasted more than thirty years and Gagliardi , oversaw the building at least until 1761.
The first level of the façade was completed by 1760 as shown by the date engraved on the right portal. It is likely that the work continued under the supervision of Vincenzo Sinatra , who was appointed its legal representative in 1762.
The original design did not undergo drastic variations with other builders including Antonio Mazza and local master builders and sculptors such as the Cultraro family. In 1767 the feast of the patron saint was celebrated in a building whose structure and façade were both nearly complete. The three portals of the church lead into the interior, which did not forgo the traditional three-nave structure.
organo  ingresso verso altare con impianto basilicale
It is divided by large stone pillars, but Gagliardi used the theme of the exedra to delimit the main spaces and accentuate the sense of the transept’s transversal expansion, limited in the central area, due to the system supporting the dome , built in the 19th century.
Among the slender arcades, interspersed with pilasters èyou can admire the Organum Maximum, one of the best works of organ art, composed of 3368 pipes and made by the Serassi family of Bergamo.
Finally, the sacristy houses the ancient remains of the original chapel of San Giorgio.
tre portali

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The smallest Greek theatre in the world

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Art in the cathedral

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The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

The Church of St. Benedict

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A heritage of votive works

The Staircase of Angels

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From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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The Benedictines’ library

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

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The city palace

Luminous sacred spaces

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The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The works in the church

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Palazzo dei due mori

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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The expansion of space and changing reality

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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The Church of St. Francis

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The Church of St. John the Evangelist

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The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

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Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The eagle-shaped city

The interior of the church: space and colour

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

A stone garden

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The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

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

City and nature

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A unifying project for the city of Catania

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The new roads of the city

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

A story of rebirth

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The city within the city

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

St. Agatha and the candelore

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The art of maiolica

Religious architecture

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The Church of St. Paul