Noto

A hall for the feasts

Today you can visit the piano nobile (main floor) of Palazzo Nicolaci, where you can discover and imagine how people lived in the time of Don Giacomo Nicolaci. The Nicolaci family made its fortune thanks to the tuna trade and became part of the aristocracy as it acquired the rank of nobility.
But let’s return to the palace.
It has around ninety rooms and splendid, shimmering and precious glass chandeliers.
The most important room was the Salone delle Feste (Hall of Feasts), like in any respectable noble palace. The ceiling depicts Apollo driving the chariot and chasing Aurora.
Salone delle Feste la volta
A little further down, like a ribbon running horizontally along all the walls, there is a symbolic decoration, a nod to the activities and interests of the commissioner .
In fact, you can spot fishing nets, telescopes, rifles, chessboards and antique vases. The painting technique of trompe l'oeil , from the French for “deceive the eye”, was used on the walls.decorazione, colonna affaccio The decoration makes those in the room believe that they are in an outdoor environment, in this case under a portico. There is the balustrade, the columns that seem to support the structure above, the curtains and the blue colour that simulates the sky. This is where we have to imagine the rich feasts in the late 18th century, dances, banquets, ladies in cumbersome embroidered dresses, gentlemen with absurd wigs and good music to delight the guests.Salone delle Feste

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A miniature city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Prominent façade

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The internal colours

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A triumph of colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new church

A museum to save a tradition

Many owners, one palace

One city, two sites

A colourful floor

A square as the heart of the city

The façade used as a puppet theatre

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A half-Baroque church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The church of Carmine

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

A hall for the feasts

Wonderful quick decorations

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The two churches

Between white and black

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The wall comes to life

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Burgos crucifix

Some masterpieces

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Searching for colour

The disastrous earthquake

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Staircase of Angels

A small room with a golden entrance

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The interior and its masterpieces

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A prominent church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A feast only for Scicli

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Feast days

A new site for a new city

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

A long reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

New roads for Catania

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The city of museums

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The chocolate of Modica

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

An eagle-shaped city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The colours of the cathedral

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Two illustrious patron saints

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Some prestigious works

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

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

One city, three sites

Norman apses

A symbol for the town

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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