Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

hearing
The voices of the Infiorata festival

If we lived in Palazzo Nicolaci and were in one of the rooms overlooking Via Corrado Nicolaci, on the third Sunday in May we would hear voices in the street.
On this day, the Saluto alla Primavera (Greeting to Spring) is celebrated, also known as the Infiorata, which attracts many people to Noto.
Every year, depending on the theme, sixteen pictures are created with petals and the street is filled with voices.
You would hear comments about the pictures, the clicking of cameras, children running up and down the street and people greeting one another for the occasion.

sight
The journey of the Sun

The hall of feasts, or yellow room, hosted banquets and social events to which all the nobles of the surrounding area were invited.
Our attention is drawn to the room’s ceiling fresco, where Apollo is depicted driving the chariot of the Sun.
In this representation the sun takes the same exact path that it takes over the city of Noto.
No detail was left to chance! The Sun, the light, that which illuminates and gives life was painted as faithfully as in reality.

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Between white and black

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A hall for the feasts

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

A triumph of colour

The disastrous earthquake

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A prominent church

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

New roads for Catania

Two illustrious patron saints

The church of Carmine

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Maiolica of the staircase

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A new site for a new church

The theatre of taste

A miniature city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Burgos crucifix

Connections with other UNESCO sites

One city, three sites

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A half-Baroque church

A symbol for the town

Some masterpieces

The chocolate of Modica

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

The interior and its masterpieces

A city in colour

A feast only for Scicli

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

Searching for colour

Discovering the mother church

The Staircase of Angels

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

One city, two sites

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

A museum to save a tradition

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

An eagle-shaped city

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The city of museums

Wonderful quick decorations

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A colourful floor

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

A talking palace

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The wall comes to life

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

A majestic and luminous church

Some prestigious works

A long reconstruction

Feast days

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A small room with a golden entrance

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The internal colours

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Prominent façade

A new site for a new city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Many owners, one palace

The Baroque town by the sea

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The colours of the cathedral

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Barresi-Branciforte lords