Introduction to Val di Noto

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The stylistic features of Baroque civic architecture are distinguished from religious architecture by the sobriety of the layout and the rigid compositional lines of the façades.
In most recurring typologies, the sculptural form of the façade composition is abandoned, with the elevation framing following the classic canons of the Renaissance period: base, facing and crowning.
The Baroque genius developed within this composition; the façade was embellished and enriched with figurative elements in high relief that created a play of shadows and chiaroscuro intended to exalt its sometimes grotesque forms.
The base of the buildings, simple in its division compared to Renaissance buildings, has arches that accommodate workshops and shops.

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The interior of the church: space and colour

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The works in the church

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

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

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

One city, three sites

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The Palazzo dei due mori

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The city within the city

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The Church of St. Benedict

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The two churches

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The articulated interior spaces

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

The church and the monastery

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The city palace

Art in the cathedral

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Luminous sacred spaces

Religious architecture

A casket of precious works

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The art of maiolica

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The new roads of the city

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The Church of St. Francis

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

A stone garden

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The eagle-shaped city

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

St. Agatha and the candelore

A unifying project for the city of Catania

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

City and nature

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

A story of rebirth

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Benedictines’ library

The Staircase of Angels

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The church and the college

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The interior and works of art

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Church of St. Paul

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The palace, the town, the church

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Franciscan convent

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo