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).

A symbol for the town

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The two churches

A colourful floor

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The church of Carmine

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A prominent church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Searching for colour

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

A talking palace

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

One city, two sites

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

One city, three sites

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Maiolica of the staircase

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The colours of the cathedral

The wall comes to life

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

The Staircase of Angels

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A miniature city

The chocolate of Modica

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new city

Wonderful quick decorations

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A small room with a golden entrance

A new site for a new church

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

St. Sebastian, so much work!

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The interior and its masterpieces

The Baroque town by the sea

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The theatre of taste

Some prestigious works

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The city of museums

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A half-Baroque church

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Feasting in Palazzolo

A museum to save a tradition

Discovering the mother church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The disastrous earthquake

Two illustrious patron saints

A city in colour

Many owners, one palace

Between white and black

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A majestic and luminous church

A hall for the feasts

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Norman apses

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A feast only for Scicli

Prominent façade

An eagle-shaped city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Some masterpieces

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

A square as the heart of the city

The internal colours

A triumph of colour

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Feast days

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?