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

The Benedictines’ library

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The eagle-shaped city

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

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

A stone garden

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The city within the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

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

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

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

The articulated interior spaces

The church and the college

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

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

The two churches

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

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

The palace, the town, the church

City and nature

A heritage of votive works

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The new roads of the city

Art in the cathedral

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The works in the church

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Franciscan convent

The Staircase of Angels

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of St. Paul

The Church of St. Francis

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The expansion of space and changing reality

A story of rebirth

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Religious architecture

A casket of precious works

The interior and works of art

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Reconstruction after the earthquake

St. Agatha and the candelore

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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

The interior of the church: space and colour

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The city palace

The Palazzo dei due mori

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

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

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The art of maiolica

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

One city, three sites

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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

The church and the monastery

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Luminous sacred spaces