The scenic search for the illusion of light

Introduction to the route

The proposed educational route reconstructs the main events of the history of the Val di Noto, through the study of some of the most important architectural heritage in the eight Late Baroque Towns: Catania, Militello in Val di Catania, Caltagirone, Ragusa, Modica, Scicli, Palazzolo Acreide and Noto.
A territory that on this occasion can be examined and discovered over the course of its history, between its elements of homogeneity and diversity in terms of history, art and architecture which led its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The common threads of the route will be scenery, light and theatricality, all characteristics belonging to Sicilian Baroque.
Through this study, we will capture aspects of architecture, figurative arts, sculpture and local traditions. For example, the desire to design light structures with articulated openings that favour the infiltration of light and chiaroscuro effects on the walls, but also the preference for traditional materials, the wise and focused use of materials that demonstrated the skill of local workers, such as the use of stucco instead of marble, and painted glass instead of hard stone.
The route will allow us to understand how the territories and populations affected by the earthquake of 1693 reacted to the catastrophic event that triggered a great renovation, which, in the wake of what was happening at the time in every important artistic centre of Italy, uses means of visual communication, illusionary perspective and spectacularity to involve, amaze and communicate.
The route is wound with texts that use the five senses to uncover and relive the atmosphere of the past of the towns of the Val di Noto, recounting the colours, smells and sounds that characterised them, as well as traditional food and the materials used to construct buildings.

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The eagle-shaped city

A heritage of votive works

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The church and the college

The articulated interior spaces

The two churches

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The palace, the town, the church

City and nature

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Religious architecture

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The Palazzo dei due mori

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

One city, three sites

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

A casket of precious works

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

The Church of St. Francis

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Staircase of Angels

St. Agatha and the candelore

The art of maiolica

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Luminous sacred spaces

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Art in the cathedral

The expansion of space and changing reality

Altars, saints and sculptural works

A story of rebirth

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

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

The Benedictines’ library

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The Franciscan convent

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The city palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

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

The Church of St. Paul

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

The city within the city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The new roads of the city

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Church of St. Benedict

The interior and works of art

The works in the church

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

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

The church and the monastery

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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

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

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

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

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

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A stone garden

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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