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.

Two illustrious patron saints

The chocolate of Modica

An eagle-shaped city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new site for a new church

A colourful floor

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Connections with other UNESCO sites

One city, two sites

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

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The church of Carmine

The wall comes to life

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Searching for colour

Prominent façade

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A majestic and luminous church

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

From International Gothic to present day

The interior and its masterpieces

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Between white and black

New roads for Catania

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

A feast only for Scicli

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A miniature city

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

The colours of the cathedral

Norman apses

The internal colours

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Some masterpieces

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

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

A half-Baroque church

Many owners, one palace

The theatre of taste

The Staircase of Angels

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A museum to save a tradition

A new site for a new city

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Feasting in Palazzolo

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The two churches

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Maiolica of the staircase

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Feast days

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

A long reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The disastrous earthquake

A square as the heart of the city

The Burgos crucifix

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Wonderful quick decorations

One city, three sites

The city of museums

The Baroque town by the sea

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

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

A symbol for the town

A prominent church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

A city in colour

A talking palace

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Some prestigious works

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A hall for the feasts