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.

A new site for a new church

Searching for colour

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Many owners, one palace

A square as the heart of the city

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A feast only for Scicli

A museum to save a tradition

Some prestigious works

The Burgos crucifix

One city, two sites

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The two churches

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The church of Carmine

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

From International Gothic to present day

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A half-Baroque church

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

A talking palace

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Feast days

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The wall comes to life

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A city in colour

Wonderful quick decorations

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

New roads for Catania

The interior and its masterpieces

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

A miniature city

Norman apses

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Some masterpieces

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A hall for the feasts

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The chocolate of Modica

A prominent church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A majestic and luminous church

A symbol for the town

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The theatre of taste

One city, three sites

Prominent façade

The city of museums

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Baroque town by the sea

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Two illustrious patron saints

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

An eagle-shaped city

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Discovering the mother church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The colours of the cathedral

Between white and black

A long reconstruction

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The internal colours

The Staircase of Angels

A triumph of colour

Connections with other UNESCO sites