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.

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The disastrous earthquake

The interior and its masterpieces

One city, two sites

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some prestigious works

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Maiolica of the staircase

A colourful floor

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The wall comes to life

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A symbol for the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Staircase of Angels

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Searching for colour

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

Wonderful quick decorations

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The city of museums

Prominent façade

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

Many owners, one palace

A feast only for Scicli

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

A majestic and luminous church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Two illustrious patron saints

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The church of Carmine

An eagle-shaped city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A city in colour

The chocolate of Modica

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The Baroque town by the sea

A miniature city

The Burgos crucifix

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Discovering the mother church

The two churches

A triumph of colour

A long reconstruction

Some masterpieces

A new site for a new city

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Connections with other UNESCO sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The internal colours

Between white and black

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

A talking palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Feasting in Palazzolo

From International Gothic to present day

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

New roads for Catania

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Feast days

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A museum to save a tradition

The colours of the cathedral

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A square as the heart of the city

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The theatre of taste

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

Norman apses

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours