The Museum of the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, located on the main floor of Palazzo Garofalo, is home to some religious artefacts of extraordinary beauty.
The tour through the museum concludes with the founding of the diocese of Ragusa in 1950 after a detailed look at the traditional worship of the patron saint John.
The tour leads visitors through seven rooms where the reliquaries are kept of saints who are venerated in Ragusa, along with jewellery, liturgical vestments, episcopal jewels and religious texts, plus paintings and statues.
Particularly notable exhibits include the reliquary chest or “Holy Ark” of the Baptist, dating from 1731, containing the reliquary plate with the head of St John the Baptist from 1641, a tooth of the Saint and a bust of St Magdalene from the 17th century.
The sixth room, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, contains the late 19th century processional standard belonging to the Ragusa confraternity “Ss.mo Cuore di Maria della Medaglia”.
