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=                                Noto                                =
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                            Introduction
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The church of St. Charles Borromeo.
A balcony of the Villadorata palace.
The church of San Domenico.
Noto (; ) is a city and  in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy.
It is 32 km southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the
Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di
Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.


                             Etymology
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The exact origin of the name "Noto" is unclear. Its name in Ancient
Greek was Νέητον (Néēton), which could be related to Ancient Greek
νέᾰτος ('néătos', "uttermost, lowest"). The site of ancient Noto dates
to the early Bronze Age (), so the name could be of pre-Greek origin.


                              History
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The old town, Noto Antica, lies 8 km directly north on Mount Alveria.
A city of Sicel origin, it was known as Netum in ancient times. In 263
BCE the city was granted to Hiero II by the Romans. According to
legend, Daedalus stayed in the city after his flight over the Ionian
Sea, as did Hercules after his seventh task. During the Roman era, it
opposed the magistrate Verres.

In 866, the Muslims conquered the city and named it 'Nawṭis',
elevating it to the capital of one of Sicily’s three districts, the
Val di Noto. It remained an important Islamic stronghold until 1091,
when it became the last city in Sicily to fall to the Christians.
Jordan of Hauteville, the eldest son of the first Norman Count of
Sicily, was made lord of Noto. Under Norman rule, it later flourished
as a wealthy and influential city.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was home to several notable
intellectual figures, including Giovanni Aurispa, jurists Andrea
Barbazio and Antonio Corsetto, architect Matteo Carnelivari, and
composer Mario Capuana. In 1503 King Ferdinand III granted it the
title of 'civitas ingeniosa' ("Ingenious City"). In the following
centuries, the city expanded, growing beyond its medieval limits, and
new buildings, churches, and convents were built.

The medieval town of Noto was virtually razed by the 1693 Sicilian
earthquake. Over half the population is said to have died in the
quake. It was decided to rebuild the town at the present site, on the
left bank of the River Asinaro, closer to the Ionian shore. These
circumstances have given Noto a unique architectural homogeneity,
since the core of the town was built over the decades after the
calamity in a typical and highly preserved example of Sicilian
baroque. The layout followed a grid system by Giovanni Battista
Landolina and utilized the sloping hillside for scenographic effects.
The architects Rosario Gagliardi, Francesco Sortino, and others
participated in designing multiple structures. The town was dubbed the
"Stone Garden" by Cesare Brandi and is listed among UNESCO's World
Heritage Sites. Many of the newer structures are built of a soft tufa
stone, which assumes a honey tonality under sunlight. Parts of the
cathedral unexpectedly collapsed in 1996.

The city, which lost its provincial capital status in 1817, rebelled
against the House of Bourbon on 16 May 1860, leaving its gates open to
Giuseppe Garibaldi and his expedition. On 21 October, a plebiscite
sealed the annexation of Noto to Piedmont.

In 1844, Noto was named a diocese, but in 1866 it suffered the
abolition of the religious guilds, which had been deeply linked to the
city's structures and buildings.

Noto was freed from the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini in
July 1943 by British troops under General Bernard Montgomery as part
of the opening phase of Operation Husky, the allied mission to
liberate Sicily. The Notinesi people voted in favour of the monarchy
in the referendum of 1946.

Scenes from the 2015 film By the Sea (starring Brad Pitt and Angelina
Jolie) were filmed in Noto.


                            Main sights
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Noto is famous for its buildings from the early 18th century, many of
which are considered to be among the finest examples of Sicilian
baroque style. It is a place of many religious buildings and several
palaces.


Palazzi and other buildings
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*Palazzo Ducezio, the town hall. Designed by Vincenzo Sinatra, it
houses neo-classical style frescos by Antonio Mazza.
*Palazzo Astuto
*Palazzo di Villadorata on 'via Nicolaci' which was built by P. Labisi
in 1733.
*Palazzo di Lorenzo del Castelluccio
*Town Library


Religious buildings
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*Noto Cathedral ('Cattedrale di San Nicolò di Mira', finished in 1776)
*'Santa Agata' church
*'Sant'Andrea Apostolo' church
*'Anime Sante del Purgatorio' ("Holy Souls of the Purgatory") church
*'Annunziata' church
*'Sant'Antonio Abate' church
*'Santa Caterina' church
*'Santa Chiara' church, with a precious 'Madonna' (by Antonello
Gagini), and Benedictine monastery
*Church of 'San Francesco d'Assisi' ('Immacolata')
*'San Carlo al Corso' church, designed by Rosario Gagliardi
*'Collegio di San Carlo' church
*'San Corrado' church
*'Santissimo Crocifisso' church
*'Crociferio di San Camillo' church
*'San Domenico' church by Rosario Gagliardi
*'Ecce Homo' church
*'Sant'Egidio Vescovo' church
*'San Girolamo' church also known as 'Chiesa di Montevergine'
*'Santa Maria dell'Arco': church and former Cistercian monastery,
founded in 1212 under the patronage of Count Isimberto or Isemberto di
Morengia and is wife Sara The church moved from Arco to the old Noto,
then after 1693 to the new Noto. Church designed by Rosario Gagliardi.
The monastery was closed by 1789, and little remains of the original
structure.
*'Santa Maria del Carmelo' church
*'Santa Maria del Gesù' church
*'Santa Maria della Rotonda' church
*'Santa Maria della Scala' church
*'San Michele Arcangelo' church
*'San Nicola di Mira' church
*'Sacro Nome di Gesu' church
*'San Pietro Martire' church
*'San Pietro delle Rose' (Saints Peter and Paul) church
*'Santissimo Salvatore' church
*'Santissimo Salvatore': church and benedictine convent (1735),
designed by Gagliardi. It has an oval plant, the interior divided by
twelve columns housing a 'Madonna with Child' from the 16th century
*'Spirito Santo' church
*'Santissima Trinità' church


Archaeological sites
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The remains of Noto's ancient structures are almost entirely hidden
beneath the ruins of the mediaeval town, except for three chambers cut
into the rock. An inscription in the Noto library says one belonged to
a gymnasium while the other two were 'heroa' (shrines of heroes).
Explorations have discovered four cemeteries dating to the third Sicel
period and one from the Greek period. Among other finds are catacombs
of the Christian period and several Byzantine tombs.

About 4 mi south of Noto, on the left bank of the Tellaro (Helorus)
river, stands a stone column about 10 m high, which is believed to be
a memorial to the surrender of Nicias. In the 3rd century BC, a tomb
was excavated in the rectangular area around it, destroying an
apparently preexisting tomb. Remnants of a later burial site belonging
to the necropolis of the small town of Helorus, 750 m to the
southeast, have been discovered. The Villa Romana del Tellaro is a
Roman villa south of Noto.


Nature reserves
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Two nature reserves are near Noto: the Riserva naturale orientata
Cavagrande del Cassibile, established in 1990, and the Riserva
naturale orientata Oasi Faunistica di Vendicari, established in 1984.


                              Culture
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In the Noto neighbourhood, a 32-m radiotelescope was installed by the
Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna as part of the Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche. It works in collaboration with a similar
instrument in Medicina, Bologna.

The city has held an annual flower festival, the Infiorata, every May
since the 1980s, lining the Corrado Nicolaci with floral mosaics.

One episode in the movie 'L'Avventura' (1960) was shot in Noto and
features views of its cathedral and square.


                              Economy
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The local area is home to several quality wine producers.


                              Gallery
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Image:Noto 2008 IMG 1442.jpg|Theatre
File:Noto, duomo 03.1.JPG|Noto Cathedral
Image:San domenico church01.jpg|Church of San Domenico
File:Noto 2008 IMG 1392.jpg|Church of St. Charles Borromeo
Image:Noto 2008 IMG 1384.jpg|Church of San Francesco all'Immacolata
Image:Chiesa del Carmine a Noto.JPG|
Image:Noto flickr01.jpg|Arch
Image:Noto 2008 IMG 1372.jpg|Church of the Santissimo Crocifisso
Image:Noto, chiesa di santa chiara.JPG|Church of Santa Chiara
Image:Via Nicolaci Noto-pjt.jpg|
Image:Palazzo_Landolina.JPG|Palazzo Landolina


                              See also
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*Sicilian Baroque
*Val di Noto
*Roman Catholic Diocese of Noto


                             References
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*'Sicily and Its Islands', 2004 - Ugo La Rosa editore


                          Further reading
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* Adler, Nancy Lockwood. "Noto: A City Rebuilt" 'History Today' (Sept
1983), Vol. 33 Issue 9, pp 39-42.


                           External links
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*
*[http://www.siciliaorientale.com/it/node/35 Webcam on Cathedral of
San Nicolò]
*[http://www.notoweb.it Il Portale su Noto]
*[http://www.tuttosunoto.it Accommodation Center of Noto]
*


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