Noto

The palace, the town, the church

Palazzo Ducezio
Palazzo Ducezio is located in the center of Noto in the Town Hall Square on one of the main roads right in front of the Cathedral located at the top of the staircase. It was named in honor of Ducezio, the founder of the city of Noto, and built between 1742 and 1761 by one of the major architects of the time: Vincenzo Sinatra. The building is very compact and has an elongated rectangular plan with no courtyard. It is formed by two overlapping floors but the original plan provided for a single-storey loggia with eleven arches on the main front characterized by a convexity in the central part, preceded by a semicircular staircase. The ground floor has, in fact, an elegant continuous portico on three sides with arches framed by Ionic columns. In 1950 it was crowned by an elevation with stone balustrade.

Palazzo Ducezio is located in the centre of Noto in Piazza del Municipio, on one of the main roads of the city’s urban grid.
It was named in honour of Ducezio , the founder of the city of Noto in the 5th century, and was built between 1742 and 1761 by one of the greatest architects of the time: Vincenzo Sinatra .
The building design included a single-storey loggia with eleven arcades on the main front characterised by a convexity in the central part, preceded by a semi-circular staircase.

foto fildi ferro griglia urbana
griglia urbana

The building is inserted into the design of the square and harmoniously interacts with the majestic staircase of the Cathedral. It was subsequently raised by one floor in 1951, to give more space to local administration offices.
With its very dilated shape, the Piazza del Municipio (Piazza XVI Maggio) is one of the most characteristic and celebrated examples of Sicilian Baroque and is a sequencing element within the town, used as a reference point by the other buildings.
The façade of Noto’s cathedral dominates the scene like a final backdrop at the top of the scenic staircase. The contraction and expansion of the spaces, the sudden changes of perspective of the minor side streets and the scenographic changes make this square an architecturally dynamic place of unparalleled beauty.

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The Franciscan convent

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The interior and works of art

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The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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Reconstruction after the earthquake

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Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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Luminous sacred spaces

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The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

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The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

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A stone garden

Art in the cathedral

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Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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The works in the church

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The Staircase of Angels

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The art of maiolica

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The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

A heritage of votive works

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

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

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Altars, saints and sculptural works

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The articulated interior spaces

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Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Palazzo dei due mori

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

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

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

The church and the monastery

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The two churches

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The casket of austerity under the great dome

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A Nobel Prize in Modica

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The city within the city

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City and nature

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

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The smallest Greek theatre in the world

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