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.

A small room with a golden entrance

The wall comes to life

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Two illustrious patron saints

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A miniature city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

A museum to save a tradition

A symbol for the town

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Searching for colour

The church of Carmine

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

New roads for Catania

The internal colours

A square as the heart of the city

The Burgos crucifix

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Many owners, one palace

Between white and black

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Feast days

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The interior and its masterpieces

A half-Baroque church

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The colours of the cathedral

The city of museums

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Wonderful quick decorations

The Staircase of Angels

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

Prominent façade

The Maiolica of the staircase

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A majestic and luminous church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Baroque town by the sea

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

One city, three sites

A long reconstruction

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Some masterpieces

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

A colourful floor

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A city in colour

A hall for the feasts

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Norman apses

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

One city, two sites

A new site for a new city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

The two churches

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The disastrous earthquake

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

Some prestigious works

A talking palace

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

From International Gothic to present day

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

An eagle-shaped city

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

A new site for a new church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A triumph of colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica