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 triumph of colour

One city, two sites

The Baroque town by the sea

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The colours of the cathedral

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Feast days

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

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Staircase of Angels

The wall comes to life

Many owners, one palace

A museum to save a tradition

Between white and black

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A prominent church

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Burgos crucifix

Norman apses

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

One city, three sites

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A hall for the feasts

A colourful floor

The disastrous earthquake

A feast only for Scicli

Two illustrious patron saints

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

The internal colours

The Maiolica of the staircase

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The chocolate of Modica

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A long reconstruction

Some masterpieces

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Wonderful quick decorations

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A talking palace

The interior and its masterpieces

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A square as the heart of the city

A new site for a new city

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

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

Discovering the mother church

The city of museums

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new site for a new church

The church of Carmine

The two churches

A city in colour

Searching for colour

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A symbol for the town

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Some prestigious works

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A majestic and luminous church

The theatre of taste

An eagle-shaped city

A miniature city

A half-Baroque church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A small room with a golden entrance

Prominent façade

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe