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 senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A small room with a golden entrance

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

New roads for Catania

An eagle-shaped city

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Maiolica of the staircase

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The wall comes to life

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The chocolate of Modica

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Wonderful quick decorations

The church of Carmine

The internal colours

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

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From International Gothic to present day

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Many owners, one palace

Norman apses

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

Discovering the mother church

The city of museums

A talking palace

A colourful floor

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Prominent façade

The interior and its masterpieces

One city, two sites

One city, three sites

A new site for a new city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A square as the heart of the city

The colours of the cathedral

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

A city in colour

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

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A symbol for the town

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A museum to save a tradition

The Staircase of Angels

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A half-Baroque church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new site for a new church

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A prominent church

A triumph of colour

The two churches

The Baroque town by the sea

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Some masterpieces

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Some prestigious works

Feasting in Palazzolo

A hall for the feasts

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A miniature city

A feast only for Scicli

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

Between white and black

The Burgos crucifix

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Two illustrious patron saints