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

Prominent façade

An eagle-shaped city

A new site for a new city

One city, three sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A hall for the feasts

Discovering the mother church

Norman apses

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A symbol for the town

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A triumph of colour

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Some masterpieces

The city of museums

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Maiolica of the staircase

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The wall comes to life

Two illustrious patron saints

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

The Staircase of Angels

The chocolate of Modica

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A museum to save a tradition

Between white and black

The two churches

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feast days

The colours of the cathedral

A majestic and luminous church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

A colourful floor

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A half-Baroque church

Feasting in Palazzolo

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The church of Carmine

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Many owners, one palace

A square as the heart of the city

A new site for a new church

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A miniature city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A talking palace

Searching for colour

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

One city, two sites

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The Baroque town by the sea

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

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

From International Gothic to present day

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

The Burgos crucifix

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

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

A long reconstruction

The disastrous earthquake

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The internal colours

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