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

Many owners, one palace

An eagle-shaped city

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A half-Baroque church

A colourful floor

A new site for a new city

Discovering the mother church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

One city, three sites

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A city in colour

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The chocolate of Modica

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A prominent church

A triumph of colour

A symbol for the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The church of Carmine

A majestic and luminous church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

New roads for Catania

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A miniature city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Some masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

The interior and its masterpieces

The internal colours

Some prestigious works

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Wonderful quick decorations

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A talking palace

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

The city of museums

The Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Prominent façade

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The theatre of taste

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Feast days

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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 the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A long reconstruction

From International Gothic to present day

The Baroque town by the sea

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The wall comes to life

Two illustrious patron saints

A museum to save a tradition

The Staircase of Angels

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Between white and black

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

Searching for colour

The Maiolica of the staircase

One city, two sites

A new site for a new church

Feasting in Palazzolo

Norman apses

The two churches

A hall for the feasts

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A feast only for Scicli