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.

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The internal colours

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A feast only for Scicli

A small room with a golden entrance

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A half-Baroque church

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new site for a new city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Some prestigious works

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A colourful floor

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

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Norman apses

A new site for a new church

The city of museums

Discovering the mother church

The interior and its masterpieces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

From International Gothic to present day

Modica, a city with ancient origins

One city, three sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Maiolica of the staircase

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The colours of the cathedral

A triumph of colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A museum to save a tradition

A talking palace

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Many owners, one palace

The chocolate of Modica

Prominent façade

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

One city, two sites

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A symbol for the town

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

New roads for Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Feast days

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

Between white and black

A long reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A prominent church

A square as the heart of the city

A miniature city

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

The disastrous earthquake

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A city in colour

Searching for colour

The theatre of taste

The two churches

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

A majestic and luminous church

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Burgos crucifix

An eagle-shaped city

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Staircase of Angels

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

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A hall for the feasts

Wonderful quick decorations

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Two illustrious patron saints

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