Noto

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The current city of Noto is the result of a complete reconstruction in a new location. The previous site, called Noto antica , was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693.
was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693. The community took more than ten years to decide where to build the new city. A decision was finally made by the vicar general Giuseppe Lanza Duca di Camastra who chose the Meti Plateau, a safer and more accessible area for trade routes.
The aristocracy and the clergy invested heavily in the reconstruction, and the works were commissioned to the best architects of the time: Rosario Gagliardi , Vincenzo Sinatra and the Labisi brothers, flanked by valuable craftspeople. The urban layout is arranged on two levels.
The first includes the slope and the upper part on the hill called the Pianazzo, where the popular buildings were built. The second is monumental Noto, whose urban design is attributed to the Jesuit architect Angelo Italia. It is located on the lower part of the slope where the noble buildings and religious complexes initially settled with temporary structures.
Later, in the 18th century, this area became home to the city’s magnificent Baroque scenery. Monumental Noto extends along the east-west axis, where three squares and the main buildings are positioned, with a layout similar to Catania. The Pianazzo, on the other hand, has a chessboard layout and runs along the north-south axis.
Between changes of perspective and altitude, the intersection of the two roads, the architecture and the staircases make up the wonderful Baroque scenery of Noto.

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Religious architecture

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The city palace

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Staircase of Angels

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The art of maiolica

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

A heritage of votive works

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

A casket of precious works

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The Franciscan convent

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The articulated interior spaces

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Benedictines’ library

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The city within the city

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The palace, the town, the church

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

The Church of St. Paul

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

A story of rebirth

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

A stone garden

One city, three sites

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The expansion of space and changing reality

The casket of austerity under the great dome

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The two churches

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

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

The church and the college

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Church of St. Francis

The eagle-shaped city

St. Agatha and the candelore

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The new roads of the city

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Altars, saints and sculptural works

City and nature

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The church and the monastery

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The Palazzo dei due mori

The works in the church

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Art in the cathedral

The interior and works of art

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The Church of St. John the Evangelist