Jan 7th: Noto

In 1693 the whole of this south eastern part of Sicily was devastated by an earthquake. A few towns were rebuilt very quickly, courtesy of rich patrons who employed top architects and designers. The town of Noto is the best preserved of these and as such is a tourist showpiece. This church and convent is an example from the main street.

All the buildings in town are in the Baroque style. What’s Baroque, you ask? It’s an ornate design style much used between 1600 and 1830 in Europe, and also exported to European colonies. The internet is so useful.

The recent restorations here make some of the buildings look new, like the cathedral coming up next. The dome collapsed in 1998 so that part of it is actually new. I suppose it’s a fine point as to how much something can be restored and still claim to be essentially the original, like that excellent  brush you had that had three new heads and two new handles.

The detail is almost more impressive than the grand scale edifices. The carvings on the balcony supports all along this street are exquisitely intricate. This particular balcony is held up by five lions, all in slightly different poses. None of the lions’ faces looks very happy, especially the one nearest, on the corner.  Oh no, not dry bones again!

Presumably due to the time of year practically everything was closed, so we had a lovely wander through the town, but didn’t go inside any buildings. It’s on different levels so our walk would unexpectedly reveal a fountain or a building as in the final photo selection.

The last one was a palace that is now the Town Hall. They know how to treat their public servants round here.