Noto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Infiorata, or Saluto alla Primavera (Greeting to Spring), is one of the most important feasts for Noto and its citizens.
L'infiorata It is a unique opportunity to come together and celebrate. Every year, on the third Sunday of May, since 1979 Via Corrado Nicolaci has been covered in wonderful and colourful pictures of flowers.
On the first Infiorata, the master florists of Genzano, from the province of Rome, were called to Noto to start a long and spectacular tradition, today more alive than ever.
The event is so popular with the public thanks to the many events offered such as exhibitions, rallies and costume parades.
Now let’s find out how the feast is organised today. To create the pictures, every year the Municipality of Noto organises a public competition and asks artists to present and develop a chosen theme.
Only the best sketches are selected.
At this point, having been selected, the experts are asked to complete their paintings when the time is right. 6 metres wide and 4 metres tall, the works cover the whole street, which is 122 metres long.
The end result is a beautiful floral carpet, made of petals from daisies, carnations, gerberas, roses and wildflowers of various sizes and colours.
Though the theme changes year after year, the Infiorata is always opened by the city’s coat of arms made by the Istituto d’arte di Noto (Noto Art Institute).

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new site for a new church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A symbol for the town

Freedom of worship and the role of the Catholic Church in the diffusion of Baroque

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

Norman apses

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A city in colour

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

From International Gothic to present day

The church of Carmine

Some prestigious works

Church of San Giuliano (St. Julian) on Via dei Crociferi: reconstruction

The Maiolica of the staircase

A miniature city

One city, two sites

A hall for the feasts

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

New roads for Catania

A feast only for Scicli

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Between white and black

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Staircase of Angels

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

From the contrast of the exterior to the internal jubilation of colours

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A square as the heart of the city

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

A talking palace

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A colourful floor

The theatre of taste

The role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the church of Santa Maria del Carmelo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Feast days

A small room with a golden entrance

The chocolate of Modica

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The internal colours

The two churches

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

One city, three sites

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A half-Baroque church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Modica, a city with ancient origins

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The colours of the cathedral

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A museum to save a tradition

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The wall comes to life

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Baroque town by the sea

A prominent church

A triumph of colour

Prominent façade

The Burgos crucifix

Two illustrious patron saints

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The city of museums

Searching for colour

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Wonderful quick decorations

Some masterpieces

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The disastrous earthquake