Introduction to Val di Noto

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

In a report about the earthquake of 11 January 1693 the Bishop of Syracuse described a dramatic sight: “The sun obscured, the air, blackened and turbid, like the dark and bleeding clouds, and the dense dust from the buildings that was exhaled after the structures fell.”
According to the chroniclers, the atmosphere seemed suspended in a seemingly endless succession of earthquake tremors. The catastrophe took place in the early afternoon of the 11th of January and left an indelible scar in the memory of the Sicilian land.
The inhabitants of the Val di Noto ran to different shelters according to their social status: the rich fled to their properties outside the walls, the poor made for the woods or makeshift shelters such as huts and haystacks.
The clergy had to abandon their convents to the point of breaking centuries-old rules, such as seclusion, creating the image of a society broken apart by dramatic circumstances.

A city in colour

One city, two sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

A miniature city

Wonderful quick decorations

A triumph of colour

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A prominent church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A feast only for Scicli

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Between white and black

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A colourful floor

Prominent façade

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

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

One city, three sites

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

Norman apses

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A talking palace

Some masterpieces

A new site for a new city

The internal colours

Many owners, one palace

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The colours of the cathedral

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

A museum to save a tradition

Discovering the mother church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Baroque town by the sea

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The wall comes to life

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The interior and its masterpieces

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The chocolate of Modica

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Two illustrious patron saints

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The two churches

A half-Baroque church

The disastrous earthquake

A square as the heart of the city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The church of Carmine

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new site for a new church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Feasting in Palazzolo

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Feast days

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

A symbol for the town

The Staircase of Angels

New roads for Catania

The theatre of taste

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

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Some prestigious works

An eagle-shaped city

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Burgos crucifix

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The city of museums

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Searching for colour

A long reconstruction

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

A hall for the feasts

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library