Noto

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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White limestone

The church of San Domenico, like most of the late Baroque architecture of Noto built after the earthquake of 1693, is made of limestone, which gives it great chromatic homogeneity. The white stone is tinged with warm hues at sunset, offering a spectacle of unique beauty.

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A place of silence: the crypt of the Dominican friars

The crypt of the church of San Domenico is where the Dominican friars were taken when they died.
This is one of the main places of silence in the church, a small space characterised by few elements such as an altar and closed arcades.
It is interesting to note the stark contrast between the bare and essential architectural structure of the crypt and the grandeur of the church’s spaces.

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The colourful scenographic elements

The interior of the church of San Domenico is characterised by an entirely white environment, with very high walls decorated with bright stuccoes that give the setting a solemn and scenic appearance.
However, there are some elements that stand out from all the whiteness, including the majestic main altar and the gilded wooden ciborium made by Antonio Basile.
The former is embellished with red and white marble and the latter, made with a wonderful curvilinear structure, encloses the Virgin and Child.

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The Palazzo dei due mori

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The works in the church

The two churches

A heritage of votive works

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

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

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

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Franciscan convent

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

A stone garden

The city within the city

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

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

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

St. Agatha and the candelore

The casket of austerity under the great dome

Luminous sacred spaces

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The articulated interior spaces

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

A story of rebirth

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Staircase of Angels

The Church of St. Paul

The Church of St. Francis

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The interior and works of art

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

Art in the cathedral

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Church of St. Benedict

A casket of precious works

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The eagle-shaped city

The art of maiolica

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

City and nature

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

Religious architecture

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

One city, three sites

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

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

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The church and the monastery

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The new roads of the city

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The city palace

The expansion of space and changing reality

The church and the college

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout