Connections with other UNESCO sites

The route in the Val di Noto is a journey to discover some of the cities in eastern Sicily rebuilt after the tragic earthquake of 1693.
The destroyed cities were rebuilt following a planned and functional street layout, made up of orthogonal roads and large squares where people could take refuge in other calamitous events.
This element can be found not only in the cities of the Val di Noto, but in other UNESCO heritage cities, such as Agrigento and Palermo.
The latter has an additional link to Catania: both cities saw the construction of the Quattro Canti, a large and scenic square created from the intersection of two large orthogonal avenues. The archaeological site of Piazza Armerina shows a great variety and richness of materials inside the Roman villa, expressing social status through the residence. This happened in the 4th century but also in the 18th century, as shown by Palazzo Trigona in Noto.
In this analysis, which aims to link the UNESCO sites together, we must stress the role played by religious orders. In every city they built splendid cathedrals, churches and monasteries, like those of the Benedictines in Catania and the Aeolian Islands.
These are joined by traditional religious feasts, which the Sicilians still celebrate passionately today, including St. Agatha in Catania, St. Lucy in Syracuse and St. Rosalia in Palermo, to name but a few.

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

A stone garden

The church and the monastery

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

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

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

The eagle-shaped city

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

One city, three sites

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The church and the college

The works in the church

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The two churches

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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

The Staircase of Angels

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

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

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The Palazzo dei due mori

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

A story of rebirth

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The city palace

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

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

The city within the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The interior and works of art

Religious architecture

St. Agatha and the candelore

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Luminous sacred spaces

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

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

City and nature

The Church of St. Benedict

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

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

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

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

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

A heritage of votive works

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

A casket of precious works

The art of maiolica

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The articulated interior spaces

The expansion of space and changing reality

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Church of St. Paul

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

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

Art in the cathedral

A unifying project for the city of Catania

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The palace, the town, the church

The casket of austerity under the great dome

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of St. Francis

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Franciscan convent

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The new roads of the city

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix