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 small room with a golden entrance

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Burgos crucifix

A half-Baroque church

New roads for Catania

A triumph of colour

A hall for the feasts

A majestic and luminous church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A square as the heart of the city

The interior and its masterpieces

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The church of Carmine

A new site for a new city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The chocolate of Modica

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

An eagle-shaped city

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

A long reconstruction

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The city of museums

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A symbol for the town

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Feast days

Two illustrious patron saints

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Some masterpieces

Norman apses

Wonderful quick decorations

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A colourful floor

A museum to save a tradition

The internal colours

Some prestigious works

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

Searching for colour

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

Between white and black

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new site for a new church

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The disastrous earthquake

One city, two sites

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

The two churches

From International Gothic to present day

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A feast only for Scicli

A prominent church

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

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

Prominent façade

A talking palace

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

Many owners, one palace

Discovering the mother church

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Staircase of Angels

The Maiolica of the staircase

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

One city, three sites

The colours of the cathedral

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Baroque town by the sea

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A city in colour