Noto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its history is one of the most extraordinary in Italy. Anyone who visits it simply never forgets it.” Here are 5 interesting facts about this wonderful city.
1. It was destroyed and rebuilt from scratch
On the night of January 11, 1693, a devastating earthquake shook eastern Sicily. The Val di Noto was razed to the ground. The ancient city of Noto, perched on a rocky plateau, almost completely collapsed. The survivors faced a difficult choice: rebuild on the ruins or start over elsewhere. They chose to start over. In just a few decades, on a plateau about eight kilometers from the original, a new city arose, designed from scratch with wide streets, airy squares, and baroque palaces of extraordinary beauty. A unique case in the history of European urban planning.
2. The ruins of the old city still exist
Noto Antica, the city destroyed by the earthquake, never completely disappeared. Its remains still lie on the plateau, immersed in vegetation, silent and forgotten. Those who visit describe a strange sensation: walking among the collapsed walls, the churches open to the sky, the alleys interrupted by nothingness. A stone ghost that no one has ever cleared. A place worth the trip almost more than the new city.
3. It is built with a stone that changes color
The palaces of Noto are built in a local honey-colored limestone, called Noto stoneThis stone has an extraordinary property: it changes hue with the light. In the morning, it's almost white. In the afternoon, it turns golden. At sunset, it turns a warm orange, almost red. Strolling along Via Corrado Nicolaci at sunset is an experience you won't soon forget.
4. Every year a street is transformed into a flower painting
In May, during the Infiorata festival, the main street of the historic center is completely covered with flower petals, arranged by hand to form elaborate designs, religious scenes, landscapes, and symbols. The artists work all night. The result is a carpet hundreds of meters long, destined to last only a few hours before wilting. A beauty that is fleeting, like all life.
5. The cathedral collapsed in 1996 and was rebuilt
The dome of Noto Cathedral suddenly collapsed in March 1996, taking part of the nave with it. It was a shock to all of Sicily. Restoration work lasted eleven years, and in 2007 the church reopened, more beautiful than ever. Today, the cathedral is the symbol of Noto: a place that knows how to collapse, and how to rise again.
Noto is a place that has known destruction, loss, and starting over. And perhaps that's precisely why it's so beautiful, like all things that have survived something.
