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.

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The two churches

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Between white and black

A miniature city

A square as the heart of the city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A colourful floor

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new site for a new city

Discovering the mother church

A long reconstruction

A hall for the feasts

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Some prestigious works

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A city in colour

One city, two sites

The city of museums

Some masterpieces

The disastrous earthquake

One city, three sites

The theatre of taste

The internal colours

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Feasting in Palazzolo

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

From International Gothic to present day

A feast only for Scicli

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

The interior and its masterpieces

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A majestic and luminous church

The colours of the cathedral

An eagle-shaped city

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

Norman apses

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A half-Baroque church

The church of Carmine

A prominent church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

The wall comes to life

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Staircase of Angels

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Maiolica of the staircase

A talking palace

New roads for Catania

The Burgos crucifix

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Prominent façade

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A new site for a new church

A symbol for the town

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

A triumph of colour

Many owners, one palace

A museum to save a tradition

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A small room with a golden entrance

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

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

Feast days

Searching for colour

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)