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 Baroque town by the sea

Prominent façade

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

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

Norman apses

The Burgos crucifix

Some masterpieces

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A colourful floor

The interior and its masterpieces

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

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

One city, three sites

A feast only for Scicli

Two illustrious patron saints

The church of Carmine

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The chocolate of Modica

The wall comes to life

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A long reconstruction

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Wonderful quick decorations

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

An eagle-shaped city

A miniature city

A majestic and luminous church

A new site for a new church

A square as the heart of the city

A new site for a new city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Discovering the mother church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Between white and black

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The theatre of taste

Limestone, the colour of harmony

New roads for Catania

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The internal colours

A hall for the feasts

A museum to save a tradition

A talking palace

A prominent church

The two churches

The city of museums

Some prestigious works

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Modica, a city with ancient origins

From International Gothic to present day

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Many owners, one palace

The colours of the cathedral

The Staircase of Angels

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Searching for colour

Feast days

A small room with a golden entrance

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

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