Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

hearing
The voices of the Infiorata festival

If we lived in Palazzo Nicolaci and were in one of the rooms overlooking Via Corrado Nicolaci, on the third Sunday in May we would hear voices in the street.
On this day, the Saluto alla Primavera (Greeting to Spring) is celebrated, also known as the Infiorata, which attracts many people to Noto.
Every year, depending on the theme, sixteen pictures are created with petals and the street is filled with voices.
You would hear comments about the pictures, the clicking of cameras, children running up and down the street and people greeting one another for the occasion.

sight
The journey of the Sun

The hall of feasts, or yellow room, hosted banquets and social events to which all the nobles of the surrounding area were invited.
Our attention is drawn to the room’s ceiling fresco, where Apollo is depicted driving the chariot of the Sun.
In this representation the sun takes the same exact path that it takes over the city of Noto.
No detail was left to chance! The Sun, the light, that which illuminates and gives life was painted as faithfully as in reality.

Discovering the mother church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The disastrous earthquake

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Feast days

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A museum to save a tradition

Many owners, one palace

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The Baroque town by the sea

A hall for the feasts

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Burgos crucifix

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

One city, three sites

From International Gothic to present day

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The colours of the cathedral

An eagle-shaped city

The city of museums

The Staircase of Angels

A prominent church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A talking palace

One city, two sites

Wonderful quick decorations

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The church of Carmine

A new site for a new church

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The two churches

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Two illustrious patron saints

Norman apses

The theatre of taste

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

A small room with a golden entrance

Some prestigious works

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A symbol for the town

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Some masterpieces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Feasting in Palazzolo

A square as the heart of the city

The chocolate of Modica

A feast only for Scicli

The wall comes to life

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The internal colours

A miniature city

A colourful floor

The interior and its masterpieces

Prominent façade

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

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

A long reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A half-Baroque church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A triumph of colour

New roads for Catania

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

A city in colour

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A majestic and luminous church