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 colours of the cathedral

A feast only for Scicli

Discovering the mother church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A talking palace

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Many owners, one palace

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Some prestigious works

Some masterpieces

The Staircase of Angels

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

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

A majestic and luminous church

A museum to save a tradition

The internal colours

New roads for Catania

The church of Carmine

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A long reconstruction

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A new site for a new church

A prominent church

Between white and black

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

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

The chocolate of Modica

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

A half-Baroque church

A square as the heart of the city

The Burgos crucifix

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The two churches

A symbol for the town

An eagle-shaped city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A colourful floor

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

One city, three sites

The interior and its masterpieces

The theatre of taste

A miniature city

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Prominent façade

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A small room with a golden entrance

From International Gothic to present day

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The wall comes to life

Searching for colour

The city of museums

Two illustrious patron saints

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Feast days

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, two sites

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new site for a new city

A triumph of colour

A city in colour