Ragusa

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

hearing
Angelic song

On 24 June 1858 the church resounded with festivities.
The great organ was inaugurated, with more than three thousand pipes and a gigantic wooden cantoria (a structure built to house the choir). We can only imagine the sweet sound that accompanied that moment.
The organ still works today and can be found in the right chapel before the transept, while the cantoria was placed above the main portal.
For centuries, music and angelic songs have been an integral part of liturgical functions.
foto organo foto organo nella prima cappella di destra del transetto

touch
Pietra pece, a special stone

The dark, petroleum-infused pietra pece of the floor smells like petrol and leaves a coat of grease on your fingers like oil!
This unique rock is widely used because its particular composition can make a room resistant to humidity.

sight
Diversity makes everything more special

The two-tone interior makes the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist) wonderful. The white walls combined with the black floor enhances both elements and adds liveliness to the environment.
Once inside the church of St. John the Baptist, our sense of sight is also stimulated by the colourful altars that crowd the side naves.
Red, green, white, gold, and even the black of the balustrades stimulate the visitor’s eye.

Prominent façade

The Staircase of Angels

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

The theatre of taste

The disastrous earthquake

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

New roads for Catania

The wall comes to life

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Searching for colour

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The interior and its masterpieces

One city, three sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A colourful floor

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The church of Carmine

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Feast days

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A feast only for Scicli

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The internal colours

The city of museums

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

Norman apses

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Two illustrious patron saints

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Maiolica of the staircase

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Baroque town by the sea

A new site for a new church

Discovering the mother church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The two churches

A city in colour

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A half-Baroque church

A prominent church

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

One city, two sites

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

Many owners, one palace

Between white and black

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

An eagle-shaped city

A long reconstruction

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

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Wonderful quick decorations

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The colours of the cathedral

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Burgos crucifix

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

A talking palace

A new site for a new city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A majestic and luminous church

A small room with a golden entrance

A symbol for the town

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A square as the heart of the city

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A museum to save a tradition

A triumph of colour

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)