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 about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Many owners, one palace

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The church of Carmine

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

The city of museums

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

A half-Baroque church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A symbol for the town

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Staircase of Angels

One city, two sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The interior and its masterpieces

The theatre of taste

A triumph of colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Prominent façade

A city in colour

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

The Baroque town by the sea

Between white and black

The chocolate of Modica

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

A majestic and luminous church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A long reconstruction

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The wall comes to life

Wonderful quick decorations

A hall for the feasts

A new site for a new church

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Feast days

A miniature city

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A talking palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The colours of the cathedral

The façade used as a puppet theatre

From International Gothic to present day

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

New roads for Catania

Feasting in Palazzolo

Some masterpieces

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new site for a new city

Two illustrious patron saints

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

Searching for colour

One city, three sites

A feast only for Scicli

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A prominent church

The two churches

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

Norman apses

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The disastrous earthquake

The internal colours

A square as the heart of the city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Some prestigious works

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A colourful floor

Discovering the mother church

A museum to save a tradition

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)