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Noto Often called il giardino di pietra, the garden of stone, Noto has also been recognised as a World Heritage Site for the great beauty of its Baroque architecture. Founded in 448 bc by Doucetius, king of the Sicels, under the Arab government in 903 it became one of the three administrative centres of the island, and flourished, thanks to its wool mills and tanneries, a large population of Jewish craftsmen and merchants, and the abundant production of silk, citrus, rice, almonds, sugar-cane and cotton. Destroyed by the 1693 earthquake, for reasons of stability it was rebuilt 14km away from the original site, against the wishes of the Church and the majority of the inhabitants. So only in 1702 was the ruined old city regretfully abandoned for the rational new town, planned and built by some of the greatest engineers, architects and master-builders of the time. From the public gardens at the east end of Noto, Corso Vittorio Emanuele leads through to the west, with the lovely, burnt-gold limestone churches, palaces and monasteries, rising on one side and falling away on the other. In the centre is the imposing cattedrale, dedicated to St Nicholas, opposite Palazzo Ducezio, the town hall. Close by is Palazzo Nicolaci Villadorata, with delightfully lavish Baroque balconies, each one telling a different story. To top of page |
