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.

Wonderful quick decorations

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A new site for a new church

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

The disastrous earthquake

Many owners, one palace

An eagle-shaped city

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Maiolica of the staircase

One city, three sites

A colourful floor

The Staircase of Angels

Norman apses

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A majestic and luminous church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The colours of the cathedral

The internal colours

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The theatre of taste

A small room with a golden entrance

A half-Baroque church

The church of Carmine

A talking palace

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A museum to save a tradition

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A long reconstruction

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The two churches

A new site for a new city

A prominent church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Prominent façade

The Burgos crucifix

Searching for colour

A hall for the feasts

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The city of museums

Discovering the mother church

Some masterpieces

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some prestigious works

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A feast only for Scicli

The chocolate of Modica

A triumph of colour

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Baroque town by the sea

New roads for Catania

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The interior and its masterpieces

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A square as the heart of the city

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From International Gothic to present day

One city, two sites

The wall comes to life

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Between white and black

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci