Introduction to Val di Noto

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

In a report about the earthquake of 11 January 1693 the Bishop of Syracuse described a dramatic sight: “The sun obscured, the air, blackened and turbid, like the dark and bleeding clouds, and the dense dust from the buildings that was exhaled after the structures fell.”
According to the chroniclers, the atmosphere seemed suspended in a seemingly endless succession of earthquake tremors. The catastrophe took place in the early afternoon of the 11th of January and left an indelible scar in the memory of the Sicilian land.
The inhabitants of the Val di Noto ran to different shelters according to their social status: the rich fled to their properties outside the walls, the poor made for the woods or makeshift shelters such as huts and haystacks.
The clergy had to abandon their convents to the point of breaking centuries-old rules, such as seclusion, creating the image of a society broken apart by dramatic circumstances.

The Maiolica of the staircase

Discovering the mother church

The wall comes to life

Norman apses

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Between white and black

A small room with a golden entrance

The internal colours

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

A hall for the feasts

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The church of Carmine

A half-Baroque church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Burgos crucifix

Prominent façade

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

A colourful floor

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The chocolate of Modica

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Feast days

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A talking palace

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Searching for colour

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

A museum to save a tradition

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Some prestigious works

The two churches

An eagle-shaped city

A square as the heart of the city

A prominent church

A new site for a new church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

One city, three sites

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The disastrous earthquake

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

New roads for Catania

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Wonderful quick decorations

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A feast only for Scicli

A new site for a new city

Some masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

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

A triumph of colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A miniature city

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Baroque town by the sea

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

A majestic and luminous church

From International Gothic to present day

A city in colour

The theatre of taste

One city, two sites

A long reconstruction

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

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A symbol for the town

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The city of museums

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Staircase of Angels

Two illustrious patron saints

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library