Introduction to Val di Noto

The expansion of space and changing reality

Baroque encouraged a new view of the world where reality and fiction animated the art of painting, sculpture and architecture before merging into unexpected scenic sights that roused wonder and amazement.
The anthropocentric doctrines of the Renaissance, accompanied by a static view of society, were replaced by the need to identify with a mobile universe, thanks also to the new cosmological discoveries of Nicolaus Copernicus and the advent of new trade routes that broadened horizons that were previously unknown. In Baroque, renewed demands came to life that led to today’s culture and indispensable components of contemporary town planning.
In the Val di Noto, the innovative drive of this cultural and artistic period goes beyond the aesthetic revolution promoted by it, giving importance to the urgencies of the urban architectural context of each city affected by the terrible earthquake of 1693.

A heritage of votive works

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

The church and the monastery

A stone garden

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Religious architecture

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Palazzo dei due mori

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

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

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The city palace

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The two churches

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

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The palace, the town, the church

Luminous sacred spaces

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Church of St. Paul

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

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

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

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

The articulated interior spaces

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

A casket of precious works

The Franciscan convent

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The interior and works of art

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

St. Agatha and the candelore

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The works in the church

The Staircase of Angels

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Art in the cathedral

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

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

The expansion of space and changing reality

The church and the college

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

City and nature

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

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Church of St. Benedict

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

A story of rebirth

The art of maiolica

The eagle-shaped city

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

One city, three sites

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The new roads of the city

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

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

The Benedictines’ library

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The city within the city

The Church of St. Francis

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

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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