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.

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Some prestigious works

The two churches

A talking palace

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A museum to save a tradition

Many owners, one palace

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The church of Carmine

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A prominent church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A symbol for the town

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

One city, two sites

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feasting in Palazzolo

The colours of the cathedral

A miniature city

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Discovering the mother church

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A square as the heart of the city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new site for a new church

The Baroque town by the sea

Norman apses

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

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

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A colourful floor

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The wall comes to life

A long reconstruction

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Two illustrious patron saints

The Staircase of Angels

A half-Baroque church

A new site for a new city

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

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Some masterpieces

The internal colours

Feast days

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The theatre of taste

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A feast only for Scicli

Between white and black

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

A majestic and luminous church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The interior and its masterpieces

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

A triumph of colour

The chocolate of Modica

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

New roads for Catania

A small room with a golden entrance

Prominent façade

From International Gothic to present day

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

An eagle-shaped city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The city of museums