Noto

The city palace

Palazzo Ducezio is a very compact building, with an elongated rectangular plan with no courtyard. There is a strong difference in height between the two main longitudinal façades.
Vincenzo Sinatra ) probably based the model of the palace on some drawings of the French villa bought in Montpellier by Baron Giacomo Nicolaci.
The ground floor is defined by an elegant portico with arches framed by a level of columns with Ionic capitals which runs along three sides. In the vicinity of the four corners of the building, the portico changes linear style with a concave shape that creates small indentations.
In 1950 the building was crowned with a raised part with a stone balustrade.
The central part of the palace, placed in line with the cathedral, is characterised by an accentuated convexity corresponding to the internal circular hall.The plan of the building has a series of rooms with different plans. Examples include the circular hall or the famous ovoid-shaped “Sala degli Specchi” (Hall of Mirrors) furnished with Louis XV furniture and large mirrors – which create the illusion of a larger space – sculpted by the Avola-born artist Sebastiano Dugo. On the vault of this room is the fresco “Fondazione di Neas” painted by Antonio Mazza, the neoclassical work depicting the foundation of Noto by the Sicilian condottiero, Ducezio.
 

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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Palazzo dei due mori

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The expansion of space and changing reality

A casket of precious works

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The new roads of the city

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

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

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Luminous sacred spaces

The Staircase of Angels

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

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Franciscan convent

The art of maiolica

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

A story of rebirth

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

One city, three sites

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

The church and the college

The articulated interior spaces

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Church of St. Paul

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

The palace, the town, the church

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A stone garden

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

The city within the city

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Benedictines’ library

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

City and nature

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

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

A heritage of votive works

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

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The eagle-shaped city

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

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Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The interior and works of art

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The church and the monastery

Art in the cathedral

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The works in the church

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

St. Agatha and the candelore

Religious architecture

The city palace

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion