Ragusa

A prominent church

The church of San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist) was rebuilt in the new town and became the prominent feature in the square where it is located, which bears the same name.

The church of San Giovanni Battista
The church of San Giovanni Battista was built in the new town of Ragusa. The facade is preceded by a huge and high churchyard accessible through twenty-two steps, located in the center of the basement. The facade is large: it has the main portal in the center, the two smaller ones on the right and left; to delimit it laterally on the left was built a bell tower, missed on the left, there is only the large base of two floors. Above the main portal there is a niche where there is the statue of the Immaculate Conception with Saint John the Baptist on one side and Saint John the Evangelist on the other.

foto della facciata When hit by the sun, the church lights up and reflects onto the parvis which, like a stage, lights up to reveal the spectacle of town life.
It is the result of a long reconstruction that began in 1720 and ended in 1778, when the church was ordained.
The story of the church of St. John the Baptist begins with the seat’s transfer from Ibla to Ragusa.As a matter of fact, the new site , offered a healthier environment at the centre of the new urban fabric.
Positioned above street level, the cathedral stands on an enormous base with a staircase in the centre for accessing the parvis, which is enclosed by a white limestone balustrade. The façade is huge. The first level is divided vertically into five parts by six columns resting on a tall base.
The central part contains the large entrance portal inserted between pairs of columns; above there is space for a niche with the statue of the Immaculate Conception in the middle accompanied by St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist.
There is also bossage decoration on the outer sides of the columns.

zoom statua dell’Immacolata
statua dell’Immacolata

The second level is decidedly less elaborate and is completed with a classic triangular pediment and lateral volutes .
One bell tower, not two, completes the façade. The dome that can be seen from Corso Italia was built in 1783 and clad in copper.

zoom volute laterali
volute laterali

foto dettaglio del bugnato   foto cupola dalla strada

Wonderful quick decorations

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The city of museums

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A feast only for Scicli

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

The colours of the cathedral

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Feast days

The wall comes to life

The interior and its masterpieces

Norman apses

The chocolate of Modica

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

A square as the heart of the city

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Searching for colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A miniature city

A city in colour

A new site for a new city

A hall for the feasts

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Some prestigious works

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

Between white and black

The two churches

Discovering the mother church

A triumph of colour

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A half-Baroque church

Many owners, one palace

The Staircase of Angels

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

New roads for Catania

The church of Carmine

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A colourful floor

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

An eagle-shaped city

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Baroque town by the sea

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The theatre of taste

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A symbol for the town

The disastrous earthquake

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Maiolica of the staircase

A small room with a golden entrance

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

From International Gothic to present day

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feasting in Palazzolo

Some masterpieces

The Burgos crucifix

A long reconstruction

Prominent façade

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A majestic and luminous church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A museum to save a tradition

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A talking palace

The internal colours

One city, three sites