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 character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The two churches

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The interior and its masterpieces

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

One city, three sites

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A long reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

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

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A prominent church

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

The Burgos crucifix

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

New roads for Catania

A square as the heart of the city

Feast days

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new site for a new church

A talking palace

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A symbol for the town

The wall comes to life

Prominent façade

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The theatre of taste

Some masterpieces

From International Gothic to present day

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

A majestic and luminous church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

An eagle-shaped city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A colourful floor

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Baroque town by the sea

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The chocolate of Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

The internal colours

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A city in colour

Discovering the mother church

A museum to save a tradition

Norman apses

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

Searching for colour

A feast only for Scicli

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Many owners, one palace

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

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A small room with a golden entrance

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

A hall for the feasts

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Between white and black

A triumph of colour

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

The city of museums

One city, two sites

A half-Baroque church

The Staircase of Angels

Two illustrious patron saints

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Wonderful quick decorations

Some prestigious works

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town