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.

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A hall for the feasts

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Many owners, one palace

The colours of the cathedral

The interior and its masterpieces

Between white and black

The Staircase of Angels

Some masterpieces

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The church of Carmine

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

An eagle-shaped city

The Baroque town by the sea

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A colourful floor

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The city of museums

A museum to save a tradition

A triumph of colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A city in colour

Wonderful quick decorations

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Two illustrious patron saints

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Some prestigious works

The chocolate of Modica

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

Searching for colour

Norman apses

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Burgos crucifix

The two churches

A majestic and luminous church

A talking palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Prominent façade

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

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A half-Baroque church

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

A symbol for the town

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new site for a new city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A long reconstruction

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

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

A feast only for Scicli

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new site for a new church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

One city, two sites

A miniature city

The internal colours

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

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A prominent church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Maiolica of the staircase

A small room with a golden entrance

Feast days

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The theatre of taste