Introduction to Val di Noto

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Baroque is a particular cultural and artistic period that began in Rome in the early 17th century before spreading across Europe, in various forms, in the second half of the century. The negative connotation attributed to Baroque by 18th-century critics, who also coined the term, was aimed at artists who in their architecture and painting had moved away from the principles of harmony, beauty and functionality found in Renaissance culture.
The Enlightenment theorists and rationalists saw in the artistic experimentalism of the new aesthetic style bizarre, eccentric and fantastic elements in stark contrast with the harmony derived from the rigorous application of geometric and proportional principles used in the Renaissance. The 19th century brought a new appreciation for Baroque art and the end of its negative connotations. A more positive and diluted interpretation of the strong communicative position of Baroque spread from the end of the 19th century, a period that recognised the importance in art of a new perception of space, with its symbolic and scenographic force that was widely accepted by both aristocratic and less affluent classes.

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The city palace

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Benedictines’ library

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Church of St. Paul

Religious architecture

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

A casket of precious works

Art in the cathedral

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The church and the college

The casket of austerity under the great dome

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Palazzo dei due mori

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The palace, the town, the church

The new roads of the city

The two churches

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The church and the monastery

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

A story of rebirth

St. Agatha and the candelore

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Church of St. Francis

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Franciscan convent

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Staircase of Angels

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The interior and works of art

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The eagle-shaped city

The articulated interior spaces

The Church of St. Benedict

A stone garden

The interior of the church: space and colour

The city within the city

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The art of maiolica

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The works in the church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

City and nature

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

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Reconstruction after the earthquake

A heritage of votive works

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)