A Trip to Noto – Sicily's Capital of the Baroque

The town of Noto is famous as one of "capitals" of Baroque art in Italy. This is owing to the great earthquake of 11 January 1693, which completely razed Noto to the ground.

Noto was an ancient city (the foundation dates back to the 5th century B.C.), capital of one of the three districts in which the Sicily, prior to unification, was divided, and rich in both agricultural and manufacturing activities.

A baroque balcony in Via Vittorio Emanuele II in Noto.

What remains today of Noto Antica ("Ancient Noto") are just a few ruins (some of them quite fascinating), that are completely surrounded by the vegetation that has retaken the area.

The new city of Noto was rebuilt approximately 15 kilometers away, and owes its beauty to the fact that it was built using a consistent style.

The architects who worked on its reconstruction, which continued for much of the 18th century, thought of the city as if it were theatrical scenery full of unexpected views in which no two corners were alike.
Added to this was the ability of local sculptors, who had learned to use the local stone, which is rather soft, to decorate the buildings with a sort of lacework made of stone.

This unique result is the reason why Noto, and the Baroque towns of the Noto valley, were proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The neoclassical Porta Reale (Royal Gate), a veritable triumphal arch built in 1838 on the occasion of a visit of King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, serves as the grandiose entrance to the town.

The Church of San Francesco (next to the former convent of St. Francis and St. Benedict, decorated with grand, curved grating on the windows and even a lookout tower, which also serves as a bell tower) stands atop one of the many theatrical staircases that dot the historic center, in a space built as a true theatrical setting to great visual effect.
The interior is completely white, decorated with stucco, and houses canvases by baroque painters.

Just before reaching the main square (Piazza del Municipio) and located at number 149 is the Museo Civico (Municipal Museum) which is rich in archaeological finds from Noto Antica, from the Greek necropolises, and the Greek city of Eloro. Unfortunately, the museum is currently closed for renovation, and the only part open is the section for modern art, which is housed on the opposite side of the road in the adjacent former monastery of Santa Chiara (combined ticket with the Teatro Comunale and the "Hall of Mirrors" of Palazzo Ducezio:  3 euros) – which one can visit in addition to the church.

To request information regarding the possible reopening of the museum, contact the company Allakatalla, located at Corso Vittorio Emanuele 47 (tel. (++39) 0931 835 005  or 574080, fax (++39) 0931 836021), which organizes guided tours through the city, also for groups.

Just behind the museum is the Piazza del Municipio, where on the left one can see the massive Palazzo Ducezio, completed in 1746, and now used as the city hall. As mentioned previously, a visit to the neo-classical Salone degli Specchi (Hall of Mirrors) is permitted.

Opposite this is the towering Cathedral, one of the jewels of Noto. Its vast and extremely picturesque façade dominates the town from atop a huge staircase.

The cathedral (at left) and the church of Santissimo Salvatore, seen from the bell tower of San Carlo.

The building narrowly escaped a bitter fate, when, having been damaged by an earthquake in 1990 and never restored owing to the typical procrastination of the Italian bureaucracy, in 1996 the dome collapsed, taking with it the roof of the nave. A careful restoration, completed in 2007 with original materials, has finally brought back the cathedral’s integrity.

The interior is dominated by completely white plaster, dispelling the preconception of the baroque as "heavy" and "overloaded"; on the contrary, this cathedral is almost Spartan, lacking as it is in frescoes (those present before the collapse had been added only in the 1950’s), in pursuit of spaciousness and light to the extreme.

The interior contains some fine works of art, in large part from the baroque era, but also from Noto Antica, such as a Gaginesque St. George.

To the right of the cathedral is the Chiesa del Santissimo Salvatore (Church of the Holy Savior), which is also fresh from a careful restoration that has returned to the façade the warm color of the golden local stone and that, inside, was enhanced with elegant neoclassical decoration, also characterized by a certain taste for the theatrical.

Lastly, standing at the corner of the Piazza della Cattedrale is the baroque church of San Carlo Borromeo (or San Carlo al Corso).

Here too the interior, dominated by white walls and bathed in light, is airy and very elegant.
One is encouraged to the climb (after paying for a reasonable ticket) to the bell tower, which offers a striking view unparalleled in the Piazza del Duomo and the historic center of Noto. (Unfortunately, the spiral staircase is very steep, and it is inaccessible to those who have difficulty walking, as well as to those who suffer from vertigo).

Almost opposite the church of San Carlo, Via Nicolaci begins (rising uphill and closed in the background by the curved front of the church of Montevergine) whose pavement is painted with figures for the Infiorata, one of Noto’s most fascinating tourist events.

Via Nicolaci in Noto.  On the left, Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata.

The Infiorata is held every year on the third Sunday in May, during which on the pavement of the city streets, cloisters, and courtyards, various designs (with social, religious or mythological subjects) are created and colored by a fantastic and ephemeral "mosaic" of flower petals.  Concerts and plays also accompany the event.

Standing on the left side of this street is Palazzo Nicolaci Villadorata (now the town library; visits allowed, ticket costs € 4), certainly the most famous of the Noto’s baroque palaces.
The decoration of the balconies and windows explodes here in a true decorative delirium with carved angels, horses, lions, gargoyles, moors, putti, in an attempt to ensure that each balcony is totally different from the next.

This amazing creativity manages to avoid encumbering the building because it alternates with large areas completely devoid of decorations.
Using a typical baroque trick, the palazzo was built with an inclined foundation in a way that exaggerates the perspective, making the short road on which it is located seem very long.

Also of value is the palazzo Landolina opposite.

Continuing on this course, one can admire the whimsical baroque facades of the noble palaces, heading into Piazza XVI Maggio, which is dominated on one side by the 18th-century Teatro Comunale (open for visits) and on the other by the curved façade of the former church of San Domenico (not open) and the so-called "Villetta", a garden dominated by a beautiful baroque fountain.

Also worthy of attention, time permitting, is the Church of the Carmine (at the end of the route, on the left), and the churches of the Most Holy Cross (Santissimo Crocifisso) and St. Agatha.

However, rather than a single monument or a single work of art, it is when taken together that the buildings in the historic center of Noto make this city so extraordinary.
It is therefore necessary to spend a little time to strolling around, walking down some random streets to discover the surprises created with the full intention of the baroque architects.

How to reach Noto from the Algilà Ortigia Charme Hotel of Syracuse.
Noto is 32 kilometers / 20 miles from Syracuse. The route can be traveled by car or train.

• By car, take motorway A18 Messina-Catania-Siracusa and the motorway A19 Palermo-Catania-Siracusa, exiting at “Bivio Cassibile”, and proceed to Strada Statale 115.

• By train, take the (free) shuttle bus #20 from Piazza Archimede close to the train station or opt to walk to the station.  Approximately every hour an interregional train or a bus departs from Syracuse for Noto; the train journey takes about half an hour, and the bus can take up to an hour and a half.

The reception desk at the Hotel Algilà is available for information and schedules.
 

Visitor Information.
For those who do not wish to engage in a meticulous examination of Noto, half  a day is sufficient to view the sites open to visitors (many churches can be visited only on the outside because they were deconsecrated and transformed for other uses, or are otherwise closed to the public).
The trip to Noto can be productively combined with a visit to the Villa Romana del Tellaro, that with the beautiful mosaics, and perhaps with a stop for a swim and walk through nature at the Nature Reserve of Vendicari.

Noto was built making extensive use of steps to lend a sense of grandeur to the individual monuments.
Although the buildings along the main street are mostly at ground level, churches tend to be preceded by enormous staircases, the true "mother of all architectural barriers". For people with mobility problems, therefore, a visit is only possible when help to overcome these obstacles is available.

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