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.

Feast days

Discovering the mother church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A prominent church

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Maiolica of the staircase

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The chocolate of Modica

A talking palace

Prominent façade

Feasting in Palazzolo

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A long reconstruction

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The two churches

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

One city, two sites

A triumph of colour

Some masterpieces

Wonderful quick decorations

New roads for Catania

Some prestigious works

From International Gothic to present day

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The theatre of taste

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Many owners, one palace

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The wall comes to life

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Staircase of Angels

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, three sites

A hall for the feasts

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

A symbol for the town

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A square as the heart of the city

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A museum to save a tradition

A new site for a new church

The colours of the cathedral

A majestic and luminous church

The interior and its masterpieces

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A colourful floor

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The city of museums

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

A miniature city

A half-Baroque church

The disastrous earthquake

Norman apses

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

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

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Baroque town by the sea

Searching for colour

A small room with a golden entrance

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

Two illustrious patron saints

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A city in colour

The Burgos crucifix

A new site for a new city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A feast only for Scicli

An eagle-shaped city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom