photo by sicilia

The real highlight of any tour of the Baroque southeast, despite the collapse of its duomo, is further afield at NOTO. Easily the most harmonious post-earthquake creation, for a time, in the mid-nineteenth century, it replaced Siracusa as that region’s provincial capital. Indeed, despite its architectural identification with the Baroque towns around Ragusa, Noto is best reached from Siracusa – around half an hour’s journey by bus or train. Planned and laid out by Giovanni Battista Landolina, adorned by Gagliardi, there’s not a town to touch Noto for uniform excellence in design and execution. Sadly it has long been afflicted by pollution and heavy traffic. Much of the traffic has now been diverted, and most of the central monuments have recently emerged from years of restoration work, but parts of the centre are still obscured, reducing Noto’s visual impact.