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.

A stone garden

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The works in the church

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Art in the cathedral

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

One city, three sites

The palace, the town, the church

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The expansion of space and changing reality

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The city within the city

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The Franciscan convent

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Religious architecture

The Palazzo dei due mori

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

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

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

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

The new roads of the city

The eagle-shaped city

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

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Luminous sacred spaces

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

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

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

A casket of precious works

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

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Church of St. Paul

The articulated interior spaces

The Staircase of Angels

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The two churches

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

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

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The interior and works of art

The Church of St. Benedict

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

St. Agatha and the candelore

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The city palace

The church and the college

The church and the monastery

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

City and nature

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

A story of rebirth

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

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

The Benedictines’ library

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

A heritage of votive works

The art of maiolica

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

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

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Baroque creativity: recurring themes