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.

Norman apses

The internal colours

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The interior and its masterpieces

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A museum to save a tradition

Feasting in Palazzolo

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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 Giuliano ai Crociferi

A new site for a new church

The chocolate of Modica

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

A feast only for Scicli

A square as the heart of the city

A Nobel Prize in Modica

From International Gothic to present day

A symbol for the town

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The wall comes to life

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A hall for the feasts

A small room with a golden entrance

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Some masterpieces

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Baroque town by the sea

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A city in colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A prominent church

New roads for Catania

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

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Wonderful quick decorations

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A colourful floor

Prominent façade

Discovering the mother church

Some prestigious works

A miniature city

Between white and black

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Staircase of Angels

Searching for colour

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

An eagle-shaped city

Feast days

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

The Burgos crucifix

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A long reconstruction

One city, three sites

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

A majestic and luminous church

The theatre of taste

One city, two sites

The city of museums

The two churches

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A new site for a new city

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

A triumph of colour

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)