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.

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

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

The Palazzo dei due mori

The palace, the town, the church

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

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

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

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The expansion of space and changing reality

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The city palace

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The interior of the church: space and colour

The art of maiolica

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Luminous sacred spaces

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

St. Agatha and the candelore

The interior and works of art

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Art in the cathedral

A stone garden

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The church and the college

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The new roads of the city

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

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

A heritage of votive works

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

A casket of precious works

One city, three sites

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Church of St. Paul

Religious architecture

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Church of St. Benedict

The city within the city

The works in the church

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

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

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The Staircase of Angels

The eagle-shaped city

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

The church and the monastery

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

A story of rebirth

The Benedictines’ library

The articulated interior spaces

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

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Franciscan convent

City and nature

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond