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.

The church of Carmine

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Between white and black

A prominent church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The internal colours

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The Baroque town by the sea

Two illustrious patron saints

St. Sebastian, so much work!

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Staircase of Angels

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A majestic and luminous church

Searching for colour

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A square as the heart of the city

The Maiolica of the staircase

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A talking palace

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

An eagle-shaped city

Norman apses

From International Gothic to present day

The interior and its masterpieces

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

Feast days

A small room with a golden entrance

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

A long reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The city of museums

One city, three sites

A feast only for Scicli

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A colourful floor

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new site for a new church

A city in colour

A new site for a new city

One city, two sites

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

Discovering the mother church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The disastrous earthquake

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Many owners, one palace

Feasting in Palazzolo

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The wall comes to life

A triumph of colour

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

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

Some prestigious works

A half-Baroque church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A hall for the feasts

A symbol for the town

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A miniature city

Prominent façade

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

Wonderful quick decorations

A museum to save a tradition

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Some masterpieces

The Burgos crucifix

The façade used as a puppet theatre