Description of the attraction
Val di Noto is a valley located in the southeastern part of Sicily at the foot of the Iblei Mountains. In 1693, this entire region, along with numerous cities and towns, was destroyed during a powerful earthquake. The rebuilding of the cities after the cataclysm gave rise to a unique architectural style that became known as the "Sicilian Baroque". The most striking examples of this style can be seen in the city of Noto, which today is the main tourist center of the valley.
It is known that since the early Renaissance, architects dreamed of building a completely ideal city, the layout of which reflected a rational approach, and its streets and buildings were organized according to their function and beauty. In reality, only a small part of such projects were destined to be realized, and most of them had to be limited to the redevelopment of individual streets, as was the case with Strada Nuova in Florence. And only in Sicily, architects managed to make their dreams come true and build several ideal cities at once. These new towns and villages were designed according to Renaissance and Baroque layouts, with streets either crossing each other in the right corner or starting from major urban locations such as squares. Large buildings - churches, covered galleries, palaces - were built in such a way as to create breathtaking panoramas in their beauty. Many of the towns of Val di Noto had a specific shape, such as Grammichele, which has a hexagon in plan, the center of which is the square with the parish church and the town hall. Another distinctive feature of these cities is the homogeneous structure of its buildings - the Baroque style was widely used in the construction.
Another tourist attraction in Val di Noto is the ancient city of Acrai, now part of the Palazzolo Acreide commune. It was founded in the 7th century BC. and became the first Corinthian colony in Sicily. The ruins of the once flourishing city were discovered in the 16th century, but the first excavations were carried out only three centuries later.
In 2002, eight towns in the valley - Caltagirone, Militello in Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa and Scicli - were declared World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
