Noto Sicily Valley of Baroque

Noto is another Sicilian town revered for spectacular Baroque architecture. I visited on Saturday. The Mediterranean has been stormy, and weather was overcast and windy, so it was not great for photography.

Everything in the complex has unique symbolism and historical significance, so I hoped to hire a local guide. Knowing the history and culture of countries makes travel more fulfilling. There weren’t any groups, and Noto private tours are pricey – €120 or more for 1 to 2 hours. Although professional guides provide vast information, I’d probably forget most of it, so I decided to do my own research and guided myself.

There’s something to be said for smartphone tours. The well-crafted tours lead you step-by-step from point A to Z allowing you to stop, start, and go back to points of interest.

Noto History

Like Modica, Noto is a small city in southeastern Sicily. It’s part of Siracusa Province in the Valley of Sicilian Baroque known for its captivating architecture. There are about fifty buildings of major interest, mostly churches and palaces.

Conquered by Arabs in 866 and ruled by Muslims for two centuries, Noto became a “highly armed stronghold”. Later, it fell to Christians and Normans. Destroyed by the 1693 Sicilian earthquake, Noto was rebuilt to become “a masterpiece of Sicilian Baroque“. Known as Giardino di Pietra – The Stone Garden – it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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“Noto is built like scenography, studying and putting up perspective in a singular way, playing with the lines and curvatures of the façades, decorations of the shelves, curls and volutes, masks, cherubs, and balconies from parapets in wrought iron that fold into graceful, bulging shapes.”

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Porta Reale and Corso Vittorio Emanuele

You enter the city center through Porta Reale (Royal Gate) Arco di Trionfo. Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the main thoroughfare leading to the three main squares. All are “brilliantly oriented from east to the west for illumination by the sun”. Each Baroque piazza has a glorious church:

• Piazza Immacolata – seated below La Chiesa di San Francesco d’Assisi all’Immacolata
• Piazza Municipio – graced with majestic La Cattedrale Di San Nicolò
• Piazza XVI Maggio – featuring elegant Chiesa di San Domenico

The churches and palaces were built with local golden-yellow limestone. A flexible stone that gives off strong light and “enables elaborate cutting of the monuments”.

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“At sunset the warm color of local golden limestone used to build Noto’s palaces and churches mixes with sunlight, creating an atmosphere that grabs your heart.”

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Like Modico, there’s so much to learn and experience in Noto, a day trip isn’t enough. Even the side streets are a special adventure. In addition to fabulous architecture, when your brain was maxed out there were fun distractions like almond sweets, pistachio crème brulée, street musicians, and art exhibits with paintings by Klee, Dali, Picasso, Mirò, and Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico. Entitled The Impossible Is Noto, the modern art exhibition “exposes the principle artists of experimental art movements” that seemed “impossible” – Futurism, Cubism, Metaphysics, Dada, and Surrealism.

La Cattedrale Di San Nicolò

Designed by architect Vincenzo Sinatra, the reconstructed eighteenth-century Noto Cathedral is near the entrance. It’s magnificent! Dedicated to San Nicolò of Mira the cathedral is the “most important place of worship in Noto”.

The Cathedral is near Noto Town Hall – Palazzo Ducezio. Built between 1694 and 1703, the façade and interior have undergone alterations, including a neoclassical dome constructed after the original collapsed in 1996 during a violent storm.

Works of art inside the cathedral were a highlight of my visit. Beautiful art in the three naves is considered “one of the last great sites of contemporary sacred art”. The paintings are indescribably beautiful!

Via Nicolaci, near Cathedral of San Nicolò, is famous for its May Infiorata (flower festival) exhibition dedicated to the world. Every year the theme features a different country.

Palazzo Nicolaci

Palazzo Nicolaci was built in 1731. It has ninety rooms, frescoed vaulted ceilings, and eighteenth-century paintings. Balconies adorned with forms of animals, spirals, and arabesques surround the palace which was the residence of the Princes of Villadorata.

Chiesa San Francesco

The Church of Saint Francis – also designed by Sicilian architect Vincenzo Sinatra – stands atop an “impressive staircase”. A Franciscan monastery is attached to the church. The inside has a single nave with rococo stucco walls.

Church of Santa Chiara

Designed in 1730 by architect Rosario Gagliardi, the Church of Santa Chiara – known as the church of Santa Maria Assunta – is noted for its “delicate baroque style”. The interior has works of art including walls with stuccoes and cherubs and a nave surrounded by 12 stone columns topped by statues of the Apostles. There’s an adjoining cloistered convent with a beautiful view.

 Siracusa Nature Reserves

There are interesting nature reserves, islands, and beaches near Noto. Some are described below. I didn’t find a group hike, but these more isolated areas are on my “must do” list for another visit.

Oriented Nature Reserve Cavagrande is renowned for its canyon and small mountain lakes created by the Cassabile River. The reserve is a natural quarry surrounded by steep rock walls and known for hiking trails and fantastic panoramic views.

Cavagrande Natural Reserve is wild and untouched with hiking paths though Mediterranean woods “thick with berry patches and flowers”. Hiking trails pass the remains of villages and a stone necropolis. They lead to a canyon with ponds, lakes, waterfalls, and beaches.

Vendicari Nature Reserve hugs the coastline along the southeast tip of Sicily. It dates back to the 5th century BC. The undisturbed ecosystem is known for migrating flamingos and some of Sicily’s best beaches.

Vindicari has famous beaches including Eloro, Marianelli, Marianeddi, Cittadella dei Maccari, and Calamosche. Popular Calamosche is on a sandy cove bounded by rocky headlands that provide shelter from the currents and a “calm and crystalline sea” perfect for swimming.

Romans, Byzantines, Normans, and Saracens conquered the area and “left their mark by constructing a necropolis, catacombs, and forts”. Remains of the 2500-year-old Greek City of Elora – aka Vendicari – are hidden beneath Vendicari Nature Reserve.

Isola delle Correnti at the southern point of Sicily is where the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas meet. The exotic landscape is “made of wild and rugged dunes in a rarefied atmosphere that bewilders visitors”.