The Baroque Pearls of the Val di Noto
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The earthquake that struck southeast Sicily in 1693 devastated the Val di Noto that straddles the Sicilian provinces of Ragusa, Catania and Siracusa, and its medieval towns were razed to the ground. However, the region rose like a phoenix from the rubble and the surviving locals created the exuberant Sicilian Baroque architecture evident in even tiny hilltop towns such as Buccheri and Buscemi. Many of the area’s churches, civic buildings and homes are built from local stone with graceful curves, wild scrolls, and elaborate carvings of flowers and grotesques. They are set off by ornate, almost billowing, wrought-iron balconies, and ornamental staircases on a grand scale that make wandering round a sheer delight, although on occasion may give you a stiff neck as you marvel at the craftsmanship of what was the last wild expression of Baroque in Europe.
The area has been given UNESCO World Heritage Site status listing the towns of Noto, Modica, Ragusa, Caltagirone, Scicli, Palazzolo Acreide, Catania and Militello in Val di Catania. This helps make the Val di Noto home to the largest concentration of World Heritage Sites in the world that encompass not just Baroque churches and palazzi, but Byzantine and Gothic churches, Greek and Roman amphitheatres, and areas of natural beauty such as the steep, rocky gorges of Pantalica, home to the largest necropolis in Sicily.
Yet this corner of southeast Sicily isn’t just a place for architecture buffs, and there’s much that makes it a place to explore. The area’s rolling hills are covered by vineyards; groves of olives, almond, lemons and oranges; limestone outcrops where you hear the tinkle of bells from herds of skittering, long-eared goats; lush pastures used as dairy farms and pinpointed with saffron, narcissi, poppies, orchids, wild fennel, onion and garlic. And its coastline takes in long sandy beaches, rocky coves and marine reserves.
The area’s rich agriculture also makes it somewhere to sample food: Noto’s almonds in melting paste di mandorla biscuits; Modica’s unique dark, crumbling chocolate made from an original Aztec recipe; and Ragusa’s dairy farms produce cheeses such as ricotta used in the famous Sicilian cassata cake are just some of the temptations.
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