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 role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

Discovering the mother church

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The disastrous earthquake

Some masterpieces

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The church of Carmine

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A miniature city

The wall comes to life

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

Some prestigious works

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Norman apses

A new site for a new city

The interior and its masterpieces

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

One city, two sites

The colours of the cathedral

Wonderful quick decorations

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A feast only for Scicli

A symbol for the town

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A new site for a new church

Feast days

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The city of museums

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Sebastian, so much work!

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A museum to save a tradition

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Between white and black

Searching for colour

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

The two churches

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

New roads for Catania

From International Gothic to present day

A long reconstruction

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

Prominent façade

A triumph of colour

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The internal colours

A city in colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

One city, three sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A half-Baroque church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The theatre of taste

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The Staircase of Angels

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

Two illustrious patron saints

A colourful floor

A talking palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

A hall for the feasts

A square as the heart of the city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

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

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A majestic and luminous church

The Baroque town by the sea

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A prominent church