Ragusa

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento (Most Blessed Sacrament), to the right of the main apse is marvellous, a veritable triumph of colours and materials. Colourful elements welcome worshippers at the entrance and form the basis of the entire chapel’s decoration.

zoom La cappella del Santissimo Sacramento
La cappella del Santissimo Sacramento

The polychrome polychrome altar immediately attracts the attention of passers-by. Red, green, white and gold are featured in the aedicula , where the painting of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was placed in the 19th century.
The wall decorations, the stuccoes , the gold and the blue background embellish the interior of the chapel and transport worshippers to a supernatural dimension.

foto dettaglio cappella ss sacramento foto dettaglio cappella ss sacramento
Using relief, the chapel recounts some of the most important moments in Christ’s life such as the Supper at Emmaus, carved in marble and inserted in the lower part of the altar in a medallion, and other stucco depictions placed at the sides of the altar.
These show the Offering of Melchizedek, a very important figure in the Old Testament who offers bread and wine to God in the name of Abraham, and the Last Supper in imitation of the famous fresco by Leonardo da Vinci, now kept in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

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

Between white and black

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A talking palace

Many owners, one palace

Feast days

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A museum to save a tradition

A small room with a golden entrance

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A new site for a new city

A symbol for the town

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Wonderful quick decorations

The city of museums

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Feasting in Palazzolo

The internal colours

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A majestic and luminous church

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The interior and its masterpieces

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Baroque town by the sea

The Staircase of Angels

The colours of the cathedral

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The disastrous earthquake

A long reconstruction

The two churches

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The wall comes to life

The theatre of taste

A city in colour

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

Two illustrious patron saints

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

The chocolate of Modica

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

A hall for the feasts

From International Gothic to present day

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, three sites

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

Norman apses

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Some masterpieces

Prominent façade

A feast only for Scicli

A miniature city

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

New roads for Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Some prestigious works

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

St. Sebastian, so much work!

One city, two sites

The church of Carmine

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

A colourful floor

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Discovering the mother church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo