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.

One city, two sites

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

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Prominent façade

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Two illustrious patron saints

New roads for Catania

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

A talking palace

The Baroque town by the sea

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Maiolica of the staircase

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Norman apses

A city in colour

A square as the heart of the city

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Some masterpieces

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

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

The theatre of taste

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A long reconstruction

The city of museums

A feast only for Scicli

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The church of Carmine

A miniature city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A museum to save a tradition

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A symbol for the town

The internal colours

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, three sites

A majestic and luminous church

Searching for colour

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

An eagle-shaped city

Many owners, one palace

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A half-Baroque church

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Connections with other UNESCO sites

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Discovering the mother church

A colourful floor

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A hall for the feasts

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new site for a new city

The Staircase of Angels

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new site for a new church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The interior and its masterpieces

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A triumph of colour

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

Some prestigious works

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

Feast days

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A prominent church

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