Noto, Italy

Noto is a town of nearly 25,000 people in the province of Syracuse, in south-eastern Sicily, and the finest of the Baroque towns rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1693. Its honey-coloured limestone churches and palaces were laid out on a new site in the early 18th century, and in 2002 the whole historic centre was inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto. Both of Odyssey’s Mediterranean Islands tours, the Mediterranean Islands of Malta, Sicily, Sardinia & Corsica and the Malta & Sicily – Mediterranean Islands small group tour, begin their time in Sicily here, with a walking tour of Noto on Day 6.

Where is Noto, and how many people live there?

Noto lies in the south-east corner of Sicily, about 30 kilometres south-west of Syracuse and a short way inland from the Ionian coast, on a slope at the foot of the Hyblaean (Iblei) hills. Its population was 24,656 in the latest estimate from ISTAT, Italy’s national statistics office, for 1 January 2026 (the 2021 census counted 23,905). That covers the whole comune, which at about 555 square kilometres is one of Italy’s largest and runs down to the sea, taking in much of the Vendicari nature reserve.

Noto has a station on the railway between Syracuse and Ragusa, and Catania’s Fontanarossa airport is the nearest major airport. The historic centre is compact and best seen on foot, though the streets climb towards the upper town and many churches stand at the top of long flights of steps.

A town rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake

Today’s Noto is barely three centuries old. Its predecessor, known in antiquity as Netum, stood on Monte Alveria about 8 kilometres to the north. It was a Sicel settlement that probably came under the sway of Greek Syracuse and later became part of the Roman Empire. Following the Arab conquest of Sicily, Noto was taken in 866 and became the capital of one of the island’s three administrative districts, the Val di Noto, which still gives its name to the south-east. It was the last Muslim stronghold in Sicily to fall to the Normans, in 1091, and stayed prosperous for centuries after. Our early history of Sicily covers the island from the Phoenicians to the Arab conquest.

On 9 and 11 January 1693 two earthquakes struck south-eastern Sicily. The second is commonly estimated at magnitude 7.4, the strongest in Italy’s recorded history, although recent research suggests it may have been somewhat lower. Around 60,000 people are thought to have died, including nearly two-thirds of the population of Catania, and some 70 towns and villages were devastated. Old Noto was destroyed. One eyewitness, Vincentius Bonajutus, described the shock in a letter published by the Royal Society in London:

‘It was in this country impossible to keep upon our legs, or in one place on the dancing Earth; nay, those that lay along on the ground, were tossed from side to side, as if on a rolling billow’

Sicily was then ruled by the Spanish crown, and the viceroy, the Duke of Uceda, appointed Giuseppe Lanza, Duke of Camastra, to direct the recovery in the stricken east of the island. Rather than being rebuilt along cramped medieval lines, several towns were given wide straight streets, open piazzas and a rational grid, a bold choice at the time: after the Great Fire of 1666, Sir Christopher Wren’s grid plan for the City of London had been set aside, largely over property rights.

Noto was moved to a new, gentler site lower down towards the coast, about 8 kilometres from the old town, and became the showpiece of the rebuilding. The street plan is credited to the local nobleman Giovanni Battista Landolina, and the finest buildings are the work of a small circle of local architects, among them Rosario Gagliardi, Vincenzo Sinatra and Paolo Labisi. Working in the soft local limestone, they produced the flamboyant late Baroque style now known as Sicilian Baroque; Gagliardi’s work can also be seen in Ragusa and Modica.

Can you visit the ruins of Noto Antica?

Yes: the site of the old town, Noto Antica, is an open archaeological area on Monte Alveria, about 8 kilometres north of modern Noto as the crow flies and rather further by road. You enter through the remains of the Porta della Montagna, the old town gate, and walk among the overgrown ruins of the castle tower, churches, a Jesuit church and noble houses, with prehistoric tombs and early Christian catacombs cut into the surrounding rock. There are few facilities and the ground is uneven, so allow a couple of hours, wear sturdy shoes and check access before you go; local guides can be arranged through the town’s Pro Loco. Noto Antica is not part of the tour day described below.

What to see in Noto, Sicily

Almost everything lies on or just off one street, so a walk along it, with detours uphill, takes in the essentials.

Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Porta Reale

Corso Vittorio Emanuele runs east to west across the lower town, opening out into a sequence of squares, each framed by a church raised on a stairway. Its eastern entrance is Porta Reale, a neoclassical arch built in 1838 for a visit by King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, with the public gardens behind it. The first great building inside the gate is the church of San Francesco, and from there the Corso leads past Santa Chiara, the cathedral and the town hall towards the church of San Domenico. Late afternoon, when the stone turns gold, is the best time to walk it.

Noto Cathedral (San Nicolò)

The cathedral of San Nicolò, designed by Gagliardi and completed in 1776, stands at the top of a broad triple flight of steps above Piazza Municipio, the centre of the town, flanked by the Palazzo Landolina, once home to one of Noto’s most powerful families. It keeps the relics of Noto’s patron saint, San Corrado Confalonieri, in a silver urn. On 13 March 1996 much of the building collapsed, including the dome and part of the nave, after damage from an earthquake in 1990 had never been fully repaired. Rebuilt with traditional techniques and modern anti-seismic engineering, it reopened for worship in June 2007, 11 years later. It is normally open to visitors outside services.

Noto Cathedral (San Nicolò) above its flights of steps, with Corso Vittorio Emanuele running past and the arcaded front of Palazzo Ducezio on the right.

Palazzo Ducezio

Facing the cathedral across the Corso, Palazzo Ducezio is Noto’s town hall, designed by Vincenzo Sinatra and built in 1746 with a long arcaded front; the upper floor was added only in 1951. The highlight inside is the oval Salone degli Specchi, the Hall of Mirrors, with ornate mirrors and Louis XV-style stucco. It is usually open to visitors, though hours vary and civic events take priority.

San Francesco all’Immacolata

The church of San Francesco all’Immacolata, the first major monument you meet on the Corso coming in from Porta Reale, stands at the top of an imposing three-flight staircase. It was built between 1704 and 1745 to designs by Vincenzo Sinatra and Rosario Gagliardi, and has a single nave in the Franciscan manner, decorated with Rococo stucco by Giuseppe Gianforma.

Santa Chiara

A short walk further along the Corso, the church of Santa Chiara was built between 1730 and 1758 to a design by Gagliardi. Its interior is elliptical, modelled on the oval churches of Rome, with white stucco throughout and a 16th-century marble Madonna and Child attributed to Antonello Gagini. The former convent next door houses the town’s civic museum, and the church’s rooftop terrace, when open, gives one of the best views over Noto’s rooftops and domes.

The oval interior of Santa Chiara, with its white stucco, statues and side altars, framed by a circular opening.

Palazzo Nicolaci and its balconies

West of the cathedral, turn uphill off the Corso into Via Corrado Nicolaci, a short street closed at its upper end by the church of Montevergine, to see Noto’s most photographed façade. Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, completed in 1765 for the Nicolaci family, who rose from merchants to barons and then princes, has six balconies flanking a larger central one, each resting on carved stone corbels: winged horses, lions, sirens, centaurs, chimeras and cherubic children, no two alike. Parts of the interior are open to visitors, though the palace can close for private events, so check on the day.

Wrought-iron balconies on carved stone brackets and a domed church façade in late-afternoon light.

Palazzo Castelluccio

Palazzo Castelluccio on Via Cavour was restored with period frescoes, tiles and furnishings by the French film-maker Jean-Louis Remilleux and opened to visitors in 2018. It is now being converted into a Rocco Forte hotel, so check whether visits are still offered.

How long do you need in Noto?

Half a day is enough to walk the Corso, see the cathedral and a couple of churches and look up at the Nicolaci balconies; a full day, or an overnight stay, leaves time for a rooftop view, the Hall of Mirrors and an evening stroll. Opening hours for churches and palazzi vary with the season and with services, and some close in the early afternoon, so check before you go.

When is the Infiorata in Noto?

The Infiorata, Noto’s flower festival, is held in May, usually over the weekend of the third Sunday of the month. Teams of artists cover Via Nicolaci with designs made from millions of petals, laid out beneath the balconies of Palazzo Nicolaci. The custom of flower carpets goes back to 17th-century Rome and the feast of Corpus Christi, and Noto’s version is now one of the best known in Italy. Dates vary, so check the current year’s programme.

What to eat and drink in Noto

Noto is known across Italy for its pastry and ices, above all at Caffè Sicilia on the Corso, in business since 1892 and now run by the pastry chef Corrado Assenza, whose work was featured in the Netflix series Chef’s Table: Pastry. Its granite, the soft Sicilian water ices often eaten with a brioche, follow the seasons, with flavours such as almond, black mulberry and citrus. Almond is the one to try here: Noto’s own almonds are protected as a Slow Food presidium, and they turn up in many of the town’s pastries and biscuits.

Beyond the town: Vendicari and the Val di Noto

The coast south of Noto is protected by the Vendicari nature reserve (Riserva Naturale Orientata Oasi Faunistica di Vendicari), set up in 1984 and run by the Sicilian Region. It covers about 8 kilometres of shoreline between the ancient Greek site of Eloro and San Lorenzo: sandy beaches, rocky coves and brackish lagoons where flamingos, herons and spoonbills gather on migration. Near the Pantano Roveto lagoon stand the Torre Sveva, a 15th-century tower despite its Swabian name, and the ruins of an old tuna fishery. The paths are flat but shadeless, so take water and a hat.

Noto is also a good base for the rest of the UNESCO listing, inscribed in 2002: eight towns rebuilt or repaired after 1693 (Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa and Scicli). Some were rebuilt on their old sites and some, like Noto, on new ground, while Caltagirone, long the capital of Sicilian ceramics, was repaired rather than rebuilt; the 12-day tour stops there on Day 8 to see its monumental staircase of Santa Maria del Monte.

Ragusa, another Val di Noto town rebuilt in the Baroque style after the 1693 earthquake, seen across its tiled roofs and church domes.

How Odyssey’s tours visit Noto

Noto is the first stop in Sicily on both the Mediterranean Islands of Malta, Sicily, Sardinia & Corsica and the Malta & Sicily – Mediterranean Islands small group tour. On Day 6, after the days in Malta, the group takes an early morning ferry across to Pozzallo on Sicily’s south coast, where we join our coach for the drive to Noto. A walking tour of the town takes in sights such as the church of San Francesco, the Monastery of Santa Chiara and Palazzo Ducezio, followed by free time for lunch. We then continue to Syracuse, where the rest of the day is free before dinner together at the hotel. Day 7 is spent in Syracuse, at the Neapolis Archaeological Park and the Great Altar, with an evening of traditional Sicilian puppet theatre.

Our Sicily itinerary from Noto to Palermo sets out the island route stop by stop, and the Mediterranean Islands itinerary follows the 25-day tour on through Sardinia and Corsica. Both tours are led by an Odyssey Program Leader with local guides, in small groups of up to 16 travellers, and solo travellers are welcome. Both are rated Level 3, Moderate to Challenging (up to six hours of activity a day over varied terrain).

Noto rewards the time it takes to look up, at corbels, cornices and the play of light on soft stone. Seen at the start of a journey through Sicily, it sets the scene for the Greek, Roman and Arab-Norman layers still to come, from Syracuse to Palermo.