Noto

The church and the college

The church of San Carlo Borromeo and the adjoining Jesuit college represent one of the major religious works of architecture in the city of Noto.
The complex was built very quickly after the earthquake of 1693. Thanks to the work of the Jesuit fathers, in 1699 it was already in an advanced stage of construction.
The rectangular area that houses the seat of the order unfolds with an orthogonal plan inserted perfectly into the building fabric along its main axis. As is the case for many buildings resulting from the union of several constructions, the monastery complex also includes a group of at least ten buildings and three courtyards from different periods, from the previous buildings of 1695-1727 to the new constructions of 1730-1757.
The main façade on the Corso, which was begun in 1730, is almost 110 metres long and consists of 22 vertical bays that are symmetrically arranged with respect to the main portal and marked, in the two levels, by coupled pilasters .
The façade of the church of San Carlo is one of the most scenic architectural sights in the city.

The work is attributed to Rosario Gagliardi though it is not documented with working drawings as his other famous works were.
In 1738 the octagonal dome was built according to a design by Francesco Maria Sortino, and in 1776 the architect Vincenzo Sinatra carried out the first restoration work on the church.

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

City and nature

The interior and works of art

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The city palace

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

A heritage of votive works

The Church of St. Francis

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The articulated interior spaces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

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

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The Benedictines’ library

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The Palazzo dei due mori

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

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The Franciscan convent

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The city within the city

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The works in the church

The new roads of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The art of maiolica

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The palace, the town, the church

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The Church of St. Paul

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

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

A stone garden

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

A casket of precious works

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

St. Agatha and the candelore

Luminous sacred spaces

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

A story of rebirth

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

One city, three sites

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The two churches

Art in the cathedral

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Staircase of Angels

The interior of the church: space and colour

Religious architecture

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

The church and the monastery

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

The Church of St. Benedict

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The eagle-shaped city

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The church and the college

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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