Noto

The interior and works of art

The interior of the church is preceded by an oval vestibule placed transversally to the major longitudinal axis divided into three naves marked by arcades with Corinthian half columns and covered by a barrel vault with lunettes.
The vault is frescoed with three large works circumscribed by curvilinear frames attributed to Costantino Carasi depicting the Transfiguration, the Healing of the Paralysed Man and in the centre, in the largest fresco, the Triumph of Agnus Dei.

Other frescoes are present on the pendentives of the dome with depictions of the Evangelists, and below are four statues representing the cardinal virtues: Temperance, Fortitude, Justice and Prudence.
In the chancel, above the entrance of the church, there is a finely crafted 18th-century organ.

The church also houses numerous paintings including “Il sacrificio di Isacco” (The Sacrifice of Isaac), “San Carlo Borromeo visita gli appestati” (St. Charles Borromeo visits the plague victims), and “Ignazio De Loyola” (Ignatius of Loyola) from the 18th century.
The majestic main altar from the ancient Jesuit church of Noto antica is characterised by the triumph of golden rays that encroach upon the trabeation above: In the centre of these, enclosed between small yellow marble columns, there is a statuette of Christ. Finally, placed at its sides there are two marble statues by sculptor Giuseppe Giuliano symbolising Faith and Hope.

The Church of St. Benedict

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The articulated interior spaces

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The church and the college

The interior and works of art

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

A casket of precious works

Luminous sacred spaces

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

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

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The new roads of the city

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

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Religious architecture

City and nature

St. Agatha and the candelore

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

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

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

The city within the city

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

The eagle-shaped city

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Church of St. Francis

The expansion of space and changing reality

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The works in the church

The church and the monastery

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

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

One city, three sites

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

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

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Franciscan convent

The Church of St. Paul

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

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

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

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

The Benedictines’ library

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

A stone garden

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Art in the cathedral

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The city palace

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

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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

A story of rebirth

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

The Palazzo dei due mori

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The Staircase of Angels

The art of maiolica

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family