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 senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A long reconstruction

A miniature city

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A city in colour

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Some prestigious works

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A symbol for the town

The theatre of taste

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A hall for the feasts

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

A colourful floor

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The church of Carmine

Two illustrious patron saints

A small room with a golden entrance

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A museum to save a tradition

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A majestic and luminous church

The wall comes to life

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Burgos crucifix

The city of museums

The Baroque town by the sea

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A new site for a new church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

From International Gothic to present day

A new site for a new city

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A square as the heart of the city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Norman apses

A half-Baroque church

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

Searching for colour

Connections with other UNESCO sites

One city, two sites

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

Many owners, one palace

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

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

An eagle-shaped city

Wonderful quick decorations

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The internal colours

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The interior and its masterpieces

Discovering the mother church

Some masterpieces

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Feast days

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

New roads for Catania

Prominent façade

Between white and black

The two churches

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A triumph of colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

One city, three sites

A feast only for Scicli