Introduction to Val di Noto

The expansion of space and changing reality

Baroque encouraged a new view of the world where reality and fiction animated the art of painting, sculpture and architecture before merging into unexpected scenic sights that roused wonder and amazement.
The anthropocentric doctrines of the Renaissance, accompanied by a static view of society, were replaced by the need to identify with a mobile universe, thanks also to the new cosmological discoveries of Nicolaus Copernicus and the advent of new trade routes that broadened horizons that were previously unknown. In Baroque, renewed demands came to life that led to today’s culture and indispensable components of contemporary town planning.
In the Val di Noto, the innovative drive of this cultural and artistic period goes beyond the aesthetic revolution promoted by it, giving importance to the urgencies of the urban architectural context of each city affected by the terrible earthquake of 1693.

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

City and nature

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Religious architecture

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

The art of maiolica

The new roads of the city

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

A story of rebirth

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Luminous sacred spaces

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Church of St. Francis

The Franciscan convent

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The city palace

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The works in the church

The palace, the town, the church

The articulated interior spaces

The city within the city

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

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

St. Agatha and the candelore

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The church and the college

A heritage of votive works

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

A casket of precious works

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

One city, three sites

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The Church of St. Paul

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

The interior of the church: space and colour

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The Benedictines’ library

The Staircase of Angels

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The eagle-shaped city

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The church and the monastery

Art in the cathedral

A stone garden

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The expansion of space and changing reality

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The interior and works of art

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Reconstruction after the earthquake

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

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

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Palazzo dei due mori

The two churches