Noto

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Infiorata, or Greeting to Spring, is a popular feast started in 1979. It takes place every year in Via Corrado Nicolaci, on the third Sunday of May.
The first Infiorata brought the masters of Genzano (a province in Rome) to Noto. They arranged flowers in geometric and imaginative patterns. With the passage of time, the experience has been handed down and has become a veritable local tradition.
Sixteen large pictures are created on Via Corrado Nicolaci using petals, and each year a different theme is decided by the local government to inspire the master infioratori. The artists present their sketches to the municipal government, which selects the best ones.
The decoration covers the entire street for over 120 metres and each artist has a picture measuring 6 metres wide by 4 metres long.
This way, they create a beautiful floral carpet, formed mostly of petals from daisies, carnations, gerberas, roses and wildflowers of various sizes and colours.
The theme changes year after year, but the Infiorata is always opened by the city’s coat of arms made by the Istituto d’Arte di Noto (Noto Art Institute).
In recent years the Infiorata has been accompanied by the “Corteo Barocco” (Baroque Parade) that evokes the splendour of the families that made the city of Noto great.

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

City and nature

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

A story of rebirth

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

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

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

The articulated interior spaces

A heritage of votive works

The Benedictines’ library

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The palace, the town, the church

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The interior of the church: space and colour

A stone garden

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The art of maiolica

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

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The church and the college

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Art in the cathedral

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 Maria del Monte

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The church and the monastery

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Luminous sacred spaces

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

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

Religious architecture

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

St. Agatha and the candelore

The new roads of the city

The city within the city

The Staircase of Angels

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

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

A casket of precious works

The two churches

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The interior and works of art

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

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

One city, three sites

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Franciscan convent

The city palace

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The expansion of space and changing reality

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The Church of St. Francis

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Palazzo dei due mori

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The eagle-shaped city

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The works in the church

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Church of St. Paul

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio