Introduction to Val di Noto

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

Baroque was born and developed in a historical period worn out by conflict between the Catholic Counter-Reformation and Protestantism that led to the Thirty Years’ War, a scene of blood and death in Europe.
With the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, freedom of worship was approved for the three main faiths (Protestant, Calvinist and Catholic), despite the fact that the major European powers involved in the conflict sought the undisputed dominance of one religion.
The Catholic Church had a decisive role in spreading Baroque, which was used as a propaganda tool against the rampant forms of Protestantism and heresy.
Baroque art was born to celebrate the power of the Catholic Church, leading artists to create pictorial, sculptural and architectural representations that amazed and astounded the observer.
Baroque encouraged a new vision of the world in which reality and fiction merged to create veritable masterpieces.
Colour and colourful marble were used to decorate church interiors and unusual, often curvilinear shapes such as ovals were used for church floor plans. It was important to incite amazement and demonstrate the greatness of papal authority.

A colourful floor

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The Staircase of Angels

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

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

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A new site for a new city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Many owners, one palace

A city in colour

A hall for the feasts

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A museum to save a tradition

An eagle-shaped city

A prominent church

The Burgos crucifix

A new site for a new church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The theatre of taste

Feast days

A half-Baroque church

Wonderful quick decorations

Some prestigious works

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The disastrous earthquake

Norman apses

One city, three sites

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The colours of the cathedral

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

A miniature city

A square as the heart of the city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The wall comes to life

A long reconstruction

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Discovering the mother church

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Between white and black

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The church of Carmine

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

From International Gothic to present day

A symbol for the town

The interior and its masterpieces

Some masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Two illustrious patron saints

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

New roads for Catania

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Prominent façade

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A talking palace

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

One city, two sites

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A feast only for Scicli

The Baroque town by the sea

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

Searching for colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Maiolica of the staircase

A triumph of colour

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The two churches

The city of museums