Introduction to Val di Noto

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

The stylistic features of Baroque civic architecture are distinguished from religious architecture by the sobriety of the layout and the rigid compositional lines of the façades.
In most recurring typologies, the sculptural form of the façade composition is abandoned, with the elevation framing following the classic canons of the Renaissance period: base, facing and crowning.
The Baroque genius developed within this composition; the façade was embellished and enriched with figurative elements in high relief that created a play of shadows and chiaroscuro intended to exalt its sometimes grotesque forms.
The base of the buildings, simple in its division compared to Renaissance buildings, has arches that accommodate workshops and shops.

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Benedictines’ library

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The church and the monastery

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Staircase of Angels

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Religious architecture

The interior of the church: space and colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

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

The Church of St. Paul

The casket of austerity under the great dome

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

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

The city within the city

The Church of St. Benedict

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The interior and works of art

The expansion of space and changing reality

The two churches

The articulated interior spaces

St. Agatha and the candelore

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Franciscan convent

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A stone garden

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Palazzo dei due mori

The Church of St. Francis

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

The city palace

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

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

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

The works in the church

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

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

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

A unifying project for the city of Catania

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

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

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The church and the college

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

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

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

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

A heritage of votive works

The art of maiolica

The new roads of the city

One city, three sites

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

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

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Luminous sacred spaces

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

A story of rebirth

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Art in the cathedral

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

City and nature

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The eagle-shaped city

The Church of Madonna della Stella

A casket of precious works

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns