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 Baroque town by the sea

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A feast only for Scicli

Feasting in Palazzolo

The disastrous earthquake

The city of museums

Many owners, one palace

A city in colour

Two illustrious patron saints

A long reconstruction

A half-Baroque church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A hall for the feasts

One city, three sites

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A miniature city

The Staircase of Angels

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A symbol for the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The wall comes to life

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The church of Carmine

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The two churches

Discovering the mother church

A museum to save a tradition

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The theatre of taste

A prominent church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A small room with a golden entrance

A new site for a new city

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

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

A square as the heart of the city

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

An eagle-shaped city

The chocolate of Modica

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Norman apses

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

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

Some masterpieces

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

New roads for Catania

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

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

A triumph of colour

One city, two sites

A majestic and luminous church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Prominent façade

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new site for a new church

The Burgos crucifix

From International Gothic to present day

The interior and its masterpieces

Searching for colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Some prestigious works

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

The internal colours

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A colourful floor