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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Baroque town by the sea

The theatre of taste

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Prominent façade

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Some masterpieces

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Many owners, one palace

Feasting in Palazzolo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Feast days

A long reconstruction

A feast only for Scicli

Two illustrious patron saints

A triumph of colour

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A city in colour

The Burgos crucifix

A small room with a golden entrance

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Between white and black

A colourful floor

The chocolate of Modica

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

An eagle-shaped city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Maiolica of the staircase

A museum to save a tradition

A miniature city

The church of Carmine

The wall comes to life

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The internal colours

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A square as the heart of the city

The disastrous earthquake

Some prestigious works

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

Discovering the mother church

A new site for a new church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Wonderful quick decorations

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Norman apses

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

The colours of the cathedral

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

One city, three sites

A hall for the feasts

Searching for colour

A new site for a new city

The city of museums

The two churches

One city, two sites

A majestic and luminous church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A prominent church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The interior and its masterpieces

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

From International Gothic to present day

The Staircase of Angels

A talking palace

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

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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