Noto

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

touch
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.

hearing
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.

sight
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.

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The articulated interior spaces

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Reconstruction after the earthquake

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

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

The expansion of space and changing reality

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

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

The Palazzo dei due mori

The city within the city

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The two churches

The casket of austerity under the great dome

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

The palace, the town, the church

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Religious architecture

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The church and the monastery

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The works in the church

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

A casket of precious works

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

A stone garden

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The art of maiolica

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The Church of St. Francis

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

The Franciscan convent

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The Church of Madonna della Stella

St. Agatha and the candelore

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

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

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A heritage of votive works

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The interior of the church: space and colour

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

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

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The city palace

The church and the college

The new roads of the city

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

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

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

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

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Art in the cathedral

The Staircase of Angels

The interior and works of art

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The eagle-shaped city

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

A story of rebirth

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

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

One city, three sites

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The Benedictines’ library

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The Church of St. Paul

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

City and nature

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto