Val di Noto (English: ''

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Noto Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is 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 i ...

'') is a historical and geographical area encompassing the south-eastern third of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

; it is dominated by the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

Hyblaean

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

. Historically, it was one of the

three valli of Sicily During the Muslim rule on Sicily, the island was divided into three different administrative regions: the ''Val di Noto'' in the southeast, the ''Val Demone'' in the northeast and the '' Val di Mazara'' in the west. Each zone has a noticeably diff ...

History

The oldest recorded settlement in the Val di Noto was the ancient town of ''

Akrai Akrai ( grc, Ἄκραι; la, Acrenses) was a Greek colony founded in Sicily by the Syracusans in 663 BC. It was located near the modern Palazzolo Acreide. History Akrai was among the first colonies of Syracuse founded by Corinthian colon ...

'', near

Palazzolo Acreide Palazzolo Acreide ( Sicilian: ''Palazzolu'', in the local dialect: ''Palazzuolu'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (southern Italy). It is from the city of Syracuse in the Hyblean Mountains. History The area around ...

, which was founded in 664 BC. It was the first colony of the

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...

ian settlement at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

. The settlements of the Val di Noto were completely destroyed by the enormous

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7 ...

. Following the earthquake, many towns were rebuilt on entirely new sites, such as

and

Grammichele Grammichele ( scn, Grammicheli, Greek: ''Echetle'' (meaning "plowshare"); Latin: ''Echetla'', ''Ochula''; Medieval: ''Occhiolà'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania in Sicily, southern Italy. It is located at the feet o ...

. The rulers of the time, the kings of Spain, granted the nobleman

Giuseppe Lanza Giuseppe Lanza, Duke of Camastra, was a 17th-century Sicilian nobleman who oversaw the reconstruction of many Sicilian towns and cities following the earthquake of 1693. He was created 1st Duke of Camastra, and Prince of Santo Stefano. He mar ...

special authority to redesign the damaged towns, which he achieved by sympathetically designing the new towns in a

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

and

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

style. The new settlements were redesigned to have a town square in the centre and to spread out in a radial pattern from there. Major buildings like churches, cloisters and palaces were built as focal points for the new streets, and the streets themselves were laid out in a grid pattern. Many of the individual towns were rebuilt to have a unique character, such as the town of

which was built in a

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

al shape with the town square in the centre, consisting of the parish and town hall. The towns were rebuilt in what came to be known as the

Sicilian Baroque Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture which evolved on the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, in the , when it was part of the Spanish Empire. The style is recognisable not only by its typical Baroque c ...

style; the most notable of which is the town of Noto itself, which is now a popular tourist destination due to its fine Baroque architecture.

Archaeology

The ruined town of Angie was rediscovered by the historian Tomas Fuentes in the 16th century. Further excavations in the early 19th century by Baron Gabrielle Ally unearthed important artifacts from the early history of eastern Sicily.

Present day

In June 2002,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

inscribed the towns of the Val di Noto on the

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

as "representing the culmination and final flowering of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

art in Europe". Noto (Italy) - No 1024rev
ICOMOS, January 2002, Advisory Body Evaluation, Unesco The listed towns are

Caltagirone Caltagirone (; scn, Caltaggiruni ; Latin: ''Calata Hieronis'') is an inland city and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island (and region) of Sicily, southern Italy, about southwest of Catania. It is the fifth most popul ...

, Militello in Val di Catania,

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...

Modica Modica (; scn, Muòrica) is a city and '' comune'' of 54,456 inhabitants in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains. Modica has neolithic origins and it represents the historical capit ...

, Ragusa, and

Scicli Scicli is a town and municipality in the Province of Ragusa in the south east of Sicily, southern Italy. It is from Ragusa, and from Palermo, and has a population (2017) of 27,051. Alongside seven other cities in the Val di Noto, it has been ...

Notes

{{Authority control World Heritage Sites in Italy Sicilian Baroque Geography of Sicily Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy