Introduction to Val di Noto

The expansion of space and changing reality

Baroque encouraged a new view of the world where reality and fiction animated the art of painting, sculpture and architecture before merging into unexpected scenic sights that roused wonder and amazement.
The anthropocentric doctrines of the Renaissance, accompanied by a static view of society, were replaced by the need to identify with a mobile universe, thanks also to the new cosmological discoveries of Nicolaus Copernicus and the advent of new trade routes that broadened horizons that were previously unknown. In Baroque, renewed demands came to life that led to today’s culture and indispensable components of contemporary town planning.
In the Val di Noto, the innovative drive of this cultural and artistic period goes beyond the aesthetic revolution promoted by it, giving importance to the urgencies of the urban architectural context of each city affected by the terrible earthquake of 1693.

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

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The Palazzo dei due mori

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Art in the cathedral

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The church and the college

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

City and nature

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

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

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

A casket of precious works

The Church of St. Paul

The interior and works of art

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The works in the church

The eagle-shaped city

The Church of St. Benedict

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The expansion of space and changing reality

The city within the city

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

A story of rebirth

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Staircase of Angels

A stone garden

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

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

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Benedictines’ library

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The art of maiolica

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

One city, three sites

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

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

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

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

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The articulated interior spaces

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

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

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

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

The Franciscan convent

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

The new roads of the city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The two churches

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Luminous sacred spaces

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The palace, the town, the church

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Altars, saints and sculptural works

A heritage of votive works

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The city palace

St. Agatha and the candelore

The interior of the church: space and colour

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The church and the monastery

Religious architecture