Ragusa

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Once past the wrought iron gate that delimits the staircase, the façade of the church of San Giorgio manifests its evocative beauty composed of soft lines modelled by concave and convex walls, the triplets of columns that reinforce the central part of the façade, giving it a typical tower-like appearance and, finally, the sinuous connecting volutes between the different levels that gradually narrow towards the top, in an upward movement amplified by the staircase below.
The late Baroque building seems to be accompanied, in its vertical thrust, by the statue of the eponymous saint on horseback, placed on the volute connecting the first and second levels of the façade elevation. The building works lasted more than thirty years and Gagliardi , oversaw the building at least until 1761.
The first level of the façade was completed by 1760 as shown by the date engraved on the right portal. It is likely that the work continued under the supervision of Vincenzo Sinatra , who was appointed its legal representative in 1762.
The original design did not undergo drastic variations with other builders including Antonio Mazza and local master builders and sculptors such as the Cultraro family. In 1767 the feast of the patron saint was celebrated in a building whose structure and façade were both nearly complete. The three portals of the church lead into the interior, which did not forgo the traditional three-nave structure.
organo  ingresso verso altare con impianto basilicale
It is divided by large stone pillars, but Gagliardi used the theme of the exedra to delimit the main spaces and accentuate the sense of the transept’s transversal expansion, limited in the central area, due to the system supporting the dome , built in the 19th century.
Among the slender arcades, interspersed with pilasters èyou can admire the Organum Maximum, one of the best works of organ art, composed of 3368 pipes and made by the Serassi family of Bergamo.
Finally, the sacristy houses the ancient remains of the original chapel of San Giorgio.
tre portali

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The Staircase of Angels

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The church and the monastery

The city palace

A casket of precious works

The Palazzo dei due mori

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

The art of maiolica

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Paul

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The palace, the town, the church

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The city within the city

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The Franciscan convent

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The new roads of the city

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

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

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The works in the church

The articulated interior spaces

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

A story of rebirth

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

St. Agatha and the candelore

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The two churches

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The interior and works of art

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The casket of austerity under the great dome

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The eagle-shaped city

The church and the college

A stone garden

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

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

Art in the cathedral

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Luminous sacred spaces

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Religious architecture

City and nature

A heritage of votive works

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

One city, three sites

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty