Noto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Infiorata, or Saluto alla Primavera (Greeting to Spring), is one of the most important feasts for Noto and its citizens.
L'infiorata It is a unique opportunity to come together and celebrate. Every year, on the third Sunday of May, since 1979 Via Corrado Nicolaci has been covered in wonderful and colourful pictures of flowers.
On the first Infiorata, the master florists of Genzano, from the province of Rome, were called to Noto to start a long and spectacular tradition, today more alive than ever.
The event is so popular with the public thanks to the many events offered such as exhibitions, rallies and costume parades.
Now let’s find out how the feast is organised today. To create the pictures, every year the Municipality of Noto organises a public competition and asks artists to present and develop a chosen theme.
Only the best sketches are selected.
At this point, having been selected, the experts are asked to complete their paintings when the time is right. 6 metres wide and 4 metres tall, the works cover the whole street, which is 122 metres long.
The end result is a beautiful floral carpet, made of petals from daisies, carnations, gerberas, roses and wildflowers of various sizes and colours.
Though the theme changes year after year, the Infiorata is always opened by the city’s coat of arms made by the Istituto d’arte di Noto (Noto Art Institute).

The interior and its masterpieces

The wall comes to life

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Between white and black

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Some masterpieces

Two illustrious patron saints

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A talking palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

From International Gothic to present day

The two churches

Norman apses

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Maiolica of the staircase

A symbol for the town

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A long reconstruction

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Discovering the mother church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A hall for the feasts

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new site for a new city

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

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

A square as the heart of the city

New roads for Catania

A new site for a new church

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

One city, three sites

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

The Baroque town by the sea

A feast only for Scicli

The theatre of taste

Wonderful quick decorations

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The colours of the cathedral

The chocolate of Modica

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

A miniature city

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Feast days

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The Staircase of Angels

Many owners, one palace

The internal colours

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A triumph of colour

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A majestic and luminous church

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A prominent church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The church of Carmine

Feasting in Palazzolo

The city of museums

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, two sites

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Burgos crucifix

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

Prominent façade

Searching for colour

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Some prestigious works

A museum to save a tradition

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