Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

hearing
The voices of the Infiorata festival

If we lived in Palazzo Nicolaci and were in one of the rooms overlooking Via Corrado Nicolaci, on the third Sunday in May we would hear voices in the street.
On this day, the Saluto alla Primavera (Greeting to Spring) is celebrated, also known as the Infiorata, which attracts many people to Noto.
Every year, depending on the theme, sixteen pictures are created with petals and the street is filled with voices.
You would hear comments about the pictures, the clicking of cameras, children running up and down the street and people greeting one another for the occasion.

sight
The journey of the Sun

The hall of feasts, or yellow room, hosted banquets and social events to which all the nobles of the surrounding area were invited.
Our attention is drawn to the room’s ceiling fresco, where Apollo is depicted driving the chariot of the Sun.
In this representation the sun takes the same exact path that it takes over the city of Noto.
No detail was left to chance! The Sun, the light, that which illuminates and gives life was painted as faithfully as in reality.

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

A new site for a new city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A half-Baroque church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A miniature city

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

An eagle-shaped city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Maiolica of the staircase

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A hall for the feasts

The interior and its masterpieces

The internal colours

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

New roads for Catania

The Burgos crucifix

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

Prominent façade

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The theatre of taste

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new church

The Baroque town by the sea

Many owners, one palace

The colours of the cathedral

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Wonderful quick decorations

A majestic and luminous church

Feasting in Palazzolo

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Some prestigious works

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A square as the heart of the city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, two sites

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

Some masterpieces

Between white and black

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A museum to save a tradition

Two illustrious patron saints

The wall comes to life

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A prominent church

A triumph of colour

Feast days

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A small room with a golden entrance

A colourful floor

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

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

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

The Staircase of Angels

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

One city, three sites

A symbol for the town

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Searching for colour

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

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

From International Gothic to present day

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

A feast only for Scicli

The disastrous earthquake

The city of museums

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci