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.

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

Luminous sacred spaces

The Palazzo dei due mori

The two churches

A story of rebirth

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

St. Agatha and the candelore

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The works in the church

A heritage of votive works

The Church of St. Francis

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The city within the city

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The interior and works of art

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The palace, the town, the church

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Benedictines’ library

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

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Art in the cathedral

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

One city, three sites

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

A stone garden

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Religious architecture

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

The city palace

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The eagle-shaped city

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

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

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The expansion of space and changing reality

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The art of maiolica

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The articulated interior spaces

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The Church of St. Benedict

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

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

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The Staircase of Angels

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

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

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The church and the college

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The interior of the church: space and colour

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The church and the monastery

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The new roads of the city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

City and nature

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The Franciscan convent

A casket of precious works

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

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Church of St. Paul