Noto Introduction

Noto is located in the Val di Noto at the southern point of the island of Sicily between the provinces of Ragusa, Syracuse. This area was built as a Roman division and later an Arab one, the provincial capital being the city of Noto. The popularity today of this region of Sicily owes to a tragic event, the devastating earthquake of 1693 which destroyed more than twenty towns and killed more than 40,000 inhabitants. A new era--the Sicilian Baroque--began with the reconstruction and restoration efforts. Some cities rebuilt over the destroyed city but Noto became a new city rebuilt downhill from the earlier city. (The former town is known as Noto Antica.) It is a good example of town planning and because of the rational approach to city building and the use of a local golden limestone for all of the new buildings, the city has a unity, deserving the citizens' appellation, il giardino de pietra, the garden of stone. In addition, some of the same architects (as well as local craftsmen) designed the buildings--again leading to a kind of uniformity.


Noto Index

Cathedral, San Nicola
Rosario Gagliardi and Vincenzo Sinatra, 18th century


(35 images)

Civic Theater
1842


(7 images)

Landolina Palace
1737-65


(9 images)

Monastery of Santissimo Salvatore
Vincenzo Sinatra?, 18th century


(13 images)

Nicolaci (Villadorata) Palace
1737-65


(28 images)

Porta Real or Arch of Ferdinand II
Orazio Angelici, 1838


(11 images)

San Domenico
Rosario Gagliardi, 1737-56


(18 images)

San Francesco all'Immacolata
Rosario Gagliardi and Vincenzo Sinatra, 1705-1745


(11 images)

Church of Santa Chiara
Rosario Gagliardi, 1730-58


(17 images)

Town Hall (Palazzo Ducezio)
Vincenzo Sinatra, 1746


(5 images)




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© 2012 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.