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.

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A square as the heart of the city

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Some masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A symbol for the town

The wall comes to life

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From International Gothic to present day

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Prominent façade

The disastrous earthquake

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A prominent church

A museum to save a tradition

The Burgos crucifix

A majestic and luminous church

The city of museums

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The colours of the cathedral

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A long reconstruction

Discovering the mother church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feast days

A new site for a new church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Wonderful quick decorations

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Between white and black

The church of Carmine

New roads for Catania

Many owners, one palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

A miniature city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The theatre of taste

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Baroque town by the sea

A city in colour

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

The Staircase of Angels

A triumph of colour

Some prestigious works

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The two churches

One city, two sites

The internal colours

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A hall for the feasts

A feast only for Scicli

A new site for a new city

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Two illustrious patron saints

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A half-Baroque church

A colourful floor

A small room with a golden entrance

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Norman apses

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

An eagle-shaped city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The chocolate of Modica

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe