Noto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Infiorata, or Saluto alla Primavera (Greeting to Spring), is one of the most important feasts for Noto and its citizens.
L'infiorata It is a unique opportunity to come together and celebrate. Every year, on the third Sunday of May, since 1979 Via Corrado Nicolaci has been covered in wonderful and colourful pictures of flowers.
On the first Infiorata, the master florists of Genzano, from the province of Rome, were called to Noto to start a long and spectacular tradition, today more alive than ever.
The event is so popular with the public thanks to the many events offered such as exhibitions, rallies and costume parades.
Now let’s find out how the feast is organised today. To create the pictures, every year the Municipality of Noto organises a public competition and asks artists to present and develop a chosen theme.
Only the best sketches are selected.
At this point, having been selected, the experts are asked to complete their paintings when the time is right. 6 metres wide and 4 metres tall, the works cover the whole street, which is 122 metres long.
The end result is a beautiful floral carpet, made of petals from daisies, carnations, gerberas, roses and wildflowers of various sizes and colours.
Though the theme changes year after year, the Infiorata is always opened by the city’s coat of arms made by the Istituto d’arte di Noto (Noto Art Institute).

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A symbol for the town

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A prominent church

A miniature city

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

Between white and black

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

One city, three sites

A new site for a new church

The Baroque town by the sea

The Burgos crucifix

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Some masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Searching for colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The two churches

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The chocolate of Modica

The interior and its masterpieces

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Wonderful quick decorations

The colours of the cathedral

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The church of Carmine

An eagle-shaped city

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feast days

A half-Baroque church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A majestic and luminous church

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

A triumph of colour

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Discovering the mother church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A city in colour

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

Some prestigious works

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Limestone, the colour of harmony

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A colourful floor

A new site for a new city

Two illustrious patron saints

The internal colours

Prominent façade

A hall for the feasts

The city of museums

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A talking palace

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

Many owners, one palace

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The wall comes to life

The Staircase of Angels

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A long reconstruction

The disastrous earthquake

A small room with a golden entrance

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A square as the heart of the city

The theatre of taste

A museum to save a tradition

Feasting in Palazzolo

New roads for Catania

Norman apses

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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