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.

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some prestigious works

A city in colour

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

New roads for Catania

A triumph of colour

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

One city, two sites

Wonderful quick decorations

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Feasting in Palazzolo

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A symbol for the town

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

An eagle-shaped city

The colours of the cathedral

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A prominent church

The chocolate of Modica

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

Feast days

A small room with a golden entrance

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A half-Baroque church

The wall comes to life

The Burgos crucifix

A feast only for Scicli

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A majestic and luminous church

Prominent façade

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Some masterpieces

From International Gothic to present day

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Two illustrious patron saints

The internal colours

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The city of museums

The two churches

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Many owners, one palace

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

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A museum to save a tradition

A new site for a new city

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

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A long reconstruction

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

One city, three sites

Searching for colour

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A square as the heart of the city

The Staircase of Angels

Between white and black

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A miniature city

Norman apses

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

Discovering the mother church

The disastrous earthquake

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A new site for a new church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A colourful floor

A talking palace

Modica, a city with ancient origins