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 new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Staircase of Angels

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Norman apses

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

The wall comes to life

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Maiolica of the staircase

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Wonderful quick decorations

Two illustrious patron saints

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

The Baroque town by the sea

Some prestigious works

A hall for the feasts

Prominent façade

A colourful floor

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Between white and black

The two churches

A half-Baroque church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

An eagle-shaped city

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A miniature city

Searching for colour

Many owners, one palace

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

One city, two sites

A talking palace

A small room with a golden entrance

Limestone, the colour of harmony

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A feast only for Scicli

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

A symbol for the town

A new site for a new church

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

From International Gothic to present day

A city in colour

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

The colours of the cathedral

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

A triumph of colour

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Discovering the mother church

Feast days

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The theatre of taste

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

One city, three sites

The internal colours

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The disastrous earthquake

Feasting in Palazzolo

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A museum to save a tradition

The city of museums

A long reconstruction

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The chocolate of Modica

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

The church of Carmine

A prominent church

The Burgos crucifix

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A new site for a new city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras