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.

A small room with a golden entrance

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Wonderful quick decorations

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

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

The city of museums

One city, two sites

An eagle-shaped city

Norman apses

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A hall for the feasts

Two illustrious patron saints

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The colours of the cathedral

The interior and its masterpieces

Prominent façade

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The two churches

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A colourful floor

A new site for a new church

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

A prominent church

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The disastrous earthquake

A triumph of colour

A long reconstruction

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Staircase of Angels

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Some masterpieces

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The church of Carmine

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A majestic and luminous church

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

St. Sebastian, so much work!

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The theatre of taste

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

A symbol for the town

One city, three sites

A feast only for Scicli

Discovering the mother church

The Baroque town by the sea

Searching for colour

The Burgos crucifix

Some prestigious works

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A square as the heart of the city

The internal colours

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A half-Baroque church

A city in colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The wall comes to life

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A museum to save a tradition

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Maiolica of the staircase

Feast days

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

New roads for Catania

Between white and black

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A new site for a new city

Many owners, one palace

A miniature city

A talking palace