WHL

Criteria for including the towns of the Val di Noto in the WHL

The “Val di Noto” (Noto Valley) is the area with the eight most important towns in south-eastern Sicily among those that were affected in 1693 by the disastrous earthquake and rebuilt during the 18th century in late Baroque style. These towns are: Catania, Militello in Val di Catania, Caltagirone, Ragusa, Modica, Scicli, Palazzolo Acreide and Noto. They were inscribed in the WHL at the Budapest Conference of 24-29 June 2002, according to the following criteria:

  • this group of towns in south-eastern Sicily provides outstanding testimony to the exuberant genius of late Baroque art and architecture;
  • the towns of the Val di Noto represent the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe;
  • the exceptional quality of the late Baroque art and architecture in the Val di Noto lies in its geographical and chronological homogeneity, and is the result of the 1693 earthquake in this region;
  • the eight Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto in south-eastern Sicily are characteristic of the settlement pattern and urban form of this region, and are permanently at risk from earthquakes and the eruptions of Mount Etna.

In the Val di Noto the innovative drive of this cultural and artistic period came from the need to rebuild entire urban areas affected by the earthquake of 1693.
Homogeneous criteria were implemented in terms of diversity; some towns were rebuilt on their original site; others were moved to different places.
The towns chose their own architects, sculptors and painters and preferred local workers.  This led to the birth of a varied and diversified Baroque art. The commitment of the religious orders to educate the new generations of artists and architects in the cultural and artistic knowledge of Baroque Rome was crucial. It allowed the new workers to combine technical knowledge from local culture with the monumental dynamics of Roman Baroque.

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

New roads for Catania

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Two illustrious patron saints

A long reconstruction

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Feast days

The interior and its masterpieces

A prominent church

A miniature city

One city, three sites

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

A hall for the feasts

A city in colour

The two churches

A new site for a new city

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Between white and black

The disastrous earthquake

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The internal colours

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A symbol for the town

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Prominent façade

Wonderful quick decorations

The Burgos crucifix

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

The church of Carmine

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

The wall comes to life

The city of museums

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

Searching for colour

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A colourful floor

An eagle-shaped city

Some masterpieces

Limestone, the colour of harmony

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A feast only for Scicli

The Staircase of Angels

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A half-Baroque church

A triumph of colour

A square as the heart of the city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A museum to save a tradition

The colours of the cathedral

One city, two sites

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

From International Gothic to present day

A small room with a golden entrance

Some prestigious works

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A new site for a new church

The chocolate of Modica

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The theatre of taste

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

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Discovering the mother church

The Baroque town by the sea

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Many owners, one palace

A talking palace