The Duomo di San Giorgio is the centrepiece of Ragusa Ibla, positioned at the top of a long flight of steps so that its soaring facade dominates the view from the Piazza del Duomo below. It was designed by Rosario Gagliardi and completed in 1775 — the rebuild after the 1693 earthquake took three generations. The result is one of the finest Baroque churches in Sicily, with a three-tiered facade that rises in stages to a dome only visible from certain angles.
The interior is spacious and relatively cool, with stained-glass windows that cast coloured light across the nave. The church is still in use and the piazza in front of it is the social centre of Ibla — lined with cafes and occupied most evenings by locals who treat it as a public sitting room. Come in the late afternoon when the stone turns golden and the light is at its best.