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.

One city, three sites

The Baroque town by the sea

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Between white and black

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The city of museums

The theatre of taste

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

Feast days

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Staircase of Angels

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

A new site for a new church

The internal colours

Some masterpieces

A hall for the feasts

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A colourful floor

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

One city, two sites

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A small room with a golden entrance

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Norman apses

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

An eagle-shaped city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Two illustrious patron saints

A new site for a new city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Burgos crucifix

A talking palace

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

The colours of the cathedral

Wonderful quick decorations

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

The wall comes to life

New roads for Catania

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A city in colour

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Searching for colour

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A long reconstruction

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

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A prominent church

The Maiolica of the staircase

Discovering the mother church

A museum to save a tradition

The church of Carmine

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A square as the heart of the city

A miniature city

A symbol for the town

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

A majestic and luminous church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A feast only for Scicli

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

Some prestigious works

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The two churches

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The interior and its masterpieces

A half-Baroque church

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Prominent façade

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The chocolate of Modica

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A triumph of colour