Noto

A new site for a new city

The beautiful city of Noto was the result of a significant reconstruction that took place following the tragic earthquake of 1693. The city was completely destroyed. What to do next? Rebuild in the same location or choose a new site? The answer was late in coming and it took years before an agreement was reached! The   Duke of Camastra resolved the debate, decreeing the reconstruction of Noto in a new site on the Meti hill. But those who thought that work could finally begin were wrong! A new debate hindered reconstruction: was it to be built on the plateau, or in the valley up the slopes of the Meti hill? In this case the viceroy Cardinal Giudice intervened and everyone agreed: the new city of Noto could be rebuilt in both areas.
The new road layout was entrusted to the architect Angelo Italia .

via Vittorio EmanueleThe project involved the construction of three main roads that connected the upper and lower city, and a long avenue with large and illustrious palaces overlooking beautiful scenic squares.
The upper part was inhabited by the poorest citizens and the labourers who worked on the building sites.
The valley area, on the other hand, was the new residential district of rich aristocrats and religious orders.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele was the ideal place to build the noble palaces and religious buildings, churches and monasteries.

A new site for a new church

An eagle-shaped city

The chocolate of Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

The city of museums

The two churches

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A colourful floor

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The theatre of taste

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

The disastrous earthquake

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Between white and black

The Staircase of Angels

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A long reconstruction

New roads for Catania

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A city in colour

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Feast days

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

The Burgos crucifix

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A museum to save a tradition

A new site for a new city

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

Some prestigious works

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

One city, two sites

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Searching for colour

The internal colours

A talking palace

Two illustrious patron saints

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

A miniature city

A square as the heart of the city

A prominent church

Some masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

From International Gothic to present day

The wall comes to life

A half-Baroque church

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A majestic and luminous church

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Wonderful quick decorations

One city, three sites

A small room with a golden entrance

Norman apses

Discovering the mother church

The church of Carmine

A symbol for the town

The interior and its masterpieces

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Prominent façade

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A triumph of colour

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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