Noto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Infiorata, or Saluto alla Primavera (Greeting to Spring), is one of the most important feasts for Noto and its citizens.
L'infiorata It is a unique opportunity to come together and celebrate. Every year, on the third Sunday of May, since 1979 Via Corrado Nicolaci has been covered in wonderful and colourful pictures of flowers.
On the first Infiorata, the master florists of Genzano, from the province of Rome, were called to Noto to start a long and spectacular tradition, today more alive than ever.
The event is so popular with the public thanks to the many events offered such as exhibitions, rallies and costume parades.
Now let’s find out how the feast is organised today. To create the pictures, every year the Municipality of Noto organises a public competition and asks artists to present and develop a chosen theme.
Only the best sketches are selected.
At this point, having been selected, the experts are asked to complete their paintings when the time is right. 6 metres wide and 4 metres tall, the works cover the whole street, which is 122 metres long.
The end result is a beautiful floral carpet, made of petals from daisies, carnations, gerberas, roses and wildflowers of various sizes and colours.
Though the theme changes year after year, the Infiorata is always opened by the city’s coat of arms made by the Istituto d’arte di Noto (Noto Art Institute).

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The chocolate of Modica

A majestic and luminous church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The Staircase of Angels

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feasting in Palazzolo

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A miniature city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Two illustrious patron saints

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A colourful floor

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Some masterpieces

A symbol for the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A feast only for Scicli

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Prominent façade

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

A half-Baroque church

One city, three sites

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Wonderful quick decorations

The colours of the cathedral

A new site for a new church

Discovering the mother church

The church of Carmine

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Some prestigious works

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Many owners, one palace

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The disastrous earthquake

An eagle-shaped city

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The theatre of taste

The wall comes to life

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A museum to save a tradition

A talking palace

From International Gothic to present day

A city in colour

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

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A small room with a golden entrance

Searching for colour

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Between white and black

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

Feast days

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A triumph of colour

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A prominent church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

One city, two sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A square as the heart of the city

The interior and its masterpieces

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A new site for a new city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A long reconstruction

The two churches

The city of museums

St. Sebastian, so much work!