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.

Discovering the mother church

Two illustrious patron saints

Prominent façade

New roads for Catania

Norman apses

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A talking palace

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A museum to save a tradition

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The internal colours

Many owners, one palace

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A square as the heart of the city

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Burgos crucifix

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

An eagle-shaped city

The chocolate of Modica

Between white and black

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A small room with a golden entrance

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

One city, three sites

The interior and its masterpieces

The Staircase of Angels

Searching for colour

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

The colours of the cathedral

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new site for a new city

A colourful floor

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Feast days

A symbol for the town

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

A prominent church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

A feast only for Scicli

The Baroque town by the sea

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From International Gothic to present day

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

One city, two sites

Wonderful quick decorations

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Some prestigious works

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

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The city of museums

Some masterpieces

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

A hall for the feasts

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A city in colour

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A new site for a new church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A majestic and luminous church

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The two churches

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The wall comes to life

The church of Carmine

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

The theatre of taste

A half-Baroque church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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