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00 Noto
Stemma di Noto

Sicily · Siracusa

Noto

The capital of Sicilian Baroque, rebuilt entirely in golden limestone after 1693.

Best time
Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
By car
1 h 23 min from Catania
By train
Station in the comune
Population
24,264

Known for

  • BAROCCO DI NOTO

    Capital of Sicilian Baroque and the showcase of the eight Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto inscribed by UNESCO in 2002.

  • INFIORATA

    Annual flower festival since the early 1980s, covering Via Nicolaci in petal mosaics for three days every May around the third Sunday.

  • CATTEDRALE

    San Nicolò at the top of its staircase, dome collapsed in 1996 from untreated 1990 earthquake damage and rebuilt for reopening in 2007.

  • PROTECTED PRODUCTS

    The commune lies inside the Monti Iblei DOP, Ragusano DOP, Limone di Siracusa IGP and Pomodoro di Pachino IGP production zones.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

  • J15°
  • F16°
  • M17°
  • A20°
  • M24°
  • J30°
  • J33°
  • A33°
  • S29°
  • O25°
  • N20°
  • D17°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Corrado Confalonieri, 19 February

Why come

Noto stands on a Hyblean foothill ten kilometers inland from the Ionian. The medieval town of Netum, on Monte Alveria eight kilometers north, was abandoned after the 1693 earthquake and rebuilt down the slope as Noto Nuova on a single orthogonal grid, the plan that anchors the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto inscribed by UNESCO in 2002. The cathedral sits at the top of its stairs on Piazza Municipio, facing the civic cluster of Palazzo Ducezio across the square.

Behind it, the ground rises again into Via Nicolaci, defined by the palace built in 1731 and covered each May, since the early 1980s, in petal mosaics for three days. Further along Corso Vittorio Emanuele the Jesuit church adds its own bell tower and a view back over the rooftops. Fifteen kilometers south the coast turns to salt marsh and reserve, a different register of the same limestone country. The local stone itself, a soft tufaceous limestone, turns gold in late light, which is the thread running under the grid, the staircases and the carved balconies alike: a single rebuilding, in a single material, read at every scale from a town plan down to a corbel.

The Sunday letter

Noto is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Noto comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Noto in our articles

How to get there

From Catania (CTA), about 1h 21m by car.

By car from the centre of Palermo 3h 43m.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming by train into Siracusa? Noto is about 42 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Catania airport.

Noto, photo 1
Noto, photo 2

What to see

  • Cattedrale di San Nicolò

    The staircase it commands is wide enough to hold the whole width of Piazza Municipio in front of it, so the facade reads as the square's far wall as much as a building in its own right.

  • Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata

    The balconies along the street are carried on carved corbels of grotesques and animals, stone figures that project out over the passersby below.

  • Piazza Municipio and Palazzo Ducezio

    Civic square facing the cathedral, with Palazzo Ducezio, the eighteenth-century town hall designed by Vincenzo Sinatra after the rebuild.

  • Chiesa di San Carlo Borromeo

    Mid-eighteenth century Jesuit church on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, climbable bell tower with a wide view across the limestone rooftops of Noto Nuova.

  • Noto Antica and Cava Carosello

    Ruins of the abandoned medieval town on Monte Alveria eight kilometers north, the original Netum left in place after the 1693 earthquake.

  • Riserva di Vendicari

    Coastal wildlife reserve fifteen kilometers south, salt marshes, tonnara ruins, flamingo migration and the Calamosche beach.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Noto fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

We recommend

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Living here

  • Population 24,264
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Catania, 1 h 21 min drive
  • Regional capital Palermo, 3 h 43 min drive

Common questions

What is Noto known for?
Noto is the capital of Sicilian Baroque, rebuilt entirely in golden limestone after 1693.
Where is Noto?
Noto is a comune in the province of Siracusa, in Sicily, at 152 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Noto?
Catania (CTA), about 1h 21m by car.
Can you get to Noto without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Palermo to Noto?
About 3h 43m by car.
When is the best time to visit Noto?
Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 9 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Noto?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Corrado Confalonieri, 19 February.
Which other towns are like Noto?
Ispica, Aci Castello and Monreale.
How many people live in Noto?
24,264 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 152 m
  • Population: 24,264
  • Surface area: 554.99 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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