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 San Sebastiano

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The theatre of taste

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

An eagle-shaped city

A city in colour

The colours of the cathedral

The church of Carmine

Feast days

A miniature city

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Wonderful quick decorations

The chocolate of Modica

Some masterpieces

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

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

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A half-Baroque church

The disastrous earthquake

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

A colourful floor

Prominent façade

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A prominent church

Many owners, one palace

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The interior and its masterpieces

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Some prestigious works

A symbol for the town

The city of museums

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Discovering the mother church

The wall comes to life

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

One city, three sites

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A majestic and luminous church

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

New roads for Catania

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Staircase of Angels

The Baroque town by the sea

One city, two sites

Two illustrious patron saints

The Maiolica of the staircase

The internal colours

A new site for a new city

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A talking palace

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The two churches

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

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Norman apses

A hall for the feasts

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Burgos crucifix

A long reconstruction

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A small room with a golden entrance

A triumph of colour

A feast only for Scicli

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?