Ragusa

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The church of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph) is located on the corner of Piazza Pola, near the Cathedral of San Giorgio (St. George) in Ibla.foto della piazza che inquadra la chiesa It was built after 1756, when the Benedictine nuns of the nearby convent, led by the abbess Battistina Maria Arezzo, bought the old dilapidated church of San Tommaso Apostolo (Thomas the Apostle). Thanks to them, reconstruction work began for the new church of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph).
The church building was built first, completed in 1774, followed by the demolition of the bell tower and the completion of the external and internal decorations. Foto facciata Initially the design for the new church was attributed to the great architect Rosario Gagliardi because of similarities with his other work, such as the Cathedral of San Giorgio (St. George) and the church of San Domenico (St. Dominic) in Noto. They all featured a horizontal division into three levels, with the final level containing the bell, but opinions have changed over the years and following more in-depth studies. Work by another architect, the Carmelite Friar Alberto Maria di San Giovanni Battista, who worked not only in Ragusa but also on the church of San Giovanni Evangelista (St. John the Evangelist) in Scicli, has a less innovative style than Gagliardi and is more similar to local artistic culture.
Well over seventy years later, Ibla and the Benedictine convent had a functioning new church, enjoyed by nuns and worshippers.
foto Facciata frontale

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

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

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

A majestic and luminous church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A long reconstruction

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Feast days

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

An eagle-shaped city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new church

The wall comes to life

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new site for a new city

The Baroque town by the sea

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Staircase of Angels

A symbol for the town

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A small room with a golden entrance

One city, two sites

The colours of the cathedral

A prominent church

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The chocolate of Modica

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The internal colours

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

The city of museums

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A half-Baroque church

Some prestigious works

A city in colour

The Maiolica of the staircase

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Norman apses

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The disastrous earthquake

One city, three sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Discovering the mother church

From International Gothic to present day

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

The theatre of taste

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Between white and black

A miniature city

New roads for Catania

The interior and its masterpieces

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

A feast only for Scicli

A colourful floor

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The church of Carmine

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A museum to save a tradition

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Two illustrious patron saints

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

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Prominent façade

A talking palace

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A hall for the feasts

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Many owners, one palace

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords