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).

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A city in colour

The colours of the cathedral

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The church of Carmine

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The two churches

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Two illustrious patron saints

The Maiolica of the staircase

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A majestic and luminous church

A colourful floor

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The city of museums

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

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Staircase of Angels

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A talking palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Feast days

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

An eagle-shaped city

Feasting in Palazzolo

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

One city, three sites

The disastrous earthquake

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Wonderful quick decorations

A small room with a golden entrance

One city, two sites

The Baroque town by the sea

A half-Baroque church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

New roads for Catania

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A hall for the feasts

Searching for colour

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

Discovering the mother church

A new site for a new church

The theatre of taste

A feast only for Scicli

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

Norman apses

Between white and black

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

A new site for a new city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Many owners, one palace

A triumph of colour

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

A prominent church

The chocolate of Modica

A long reconstruction

A symbol for the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

From International Gothic to present day

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The internal colours

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Burgos crucifix

Prominent façade

Some prestigious works

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A museum to save a tradition

The interior and its masterpieces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church