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.

The internal colours

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

A new site for a new church

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

A new site for a new city

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

One city, three sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Some masterpieces

The two churches

A small room with a golden entrance

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A miniature city

Feasting in Palazzolo

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The city of museums

Feast days

Norman apses

The disastrous earthquake

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A triumph of colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The theatre of taste

A square as the heart of the city

A symbol for the town

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A majestic and luminous church

A colourful floor

The Burgos crucifix

A long reconstruction

An eagle-shaped city

Wonderful quick decorations

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Two illustrious patron saints

A half-Baroque church

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The chocolate of Modica

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

Some prestigious works

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

One city, two sites

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The interior and its masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

Between white and black

New roads for Catania

A feast only for Scicli

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

A talking palace

A city in colour

A hall for the feasts

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The church of Carmine

A prominent church

The Staircase of Angels

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The wall comes to life

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Searching for colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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