HISTORY OF NOTO:
The ancient Noto was settled during the Bronze Age, sometime between 2200 and 1450 BC, and was located about 8 kilometers to the north of the current town. In the 3rd century BC, Noto became a colony of Syracuse, recognized by the Romans through a treaty. Read More [...]
In 214 BC, after the city opened its gates to the army of the Roman consul Marco Claudio Marcello, Noto became an ally of Rome.
Around the middle of the 6th century, Noto, along with the entire Sicily, was occupied by the Byzantines. In 864, the city was conquered by the Arabs of Khafaja ben Sufyan, who fortified it. In 1091, Noto passed under the Norman domination of the Great Count Roger I of Sicily, who gave the city to his son, Jordan.
During the Angevin period, Noto participated in the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers. In 1299, during the war for Sicily between Frederick III of Aragon and Charles II of Anjou, Ugolino Callari, lord of Noto, rebelled against the first and handed over the city to the army of Robert of Anjou, son of Charles II.
On January 11, 1693, the city was destroyed by the earthquake of Val di Noto, in which about 1,000 people died. After the terrible event, Giuseppe Lanza, Duke of Camastra, decided to rebuild the city on another site, 8 kilometers to the south, on the slope of the Meti Hill.
GEOGRAPHY OF NOTO:
Noto is situated in the southwestern part of the province of Syracuse, at the foot of the Hyblaean Mountains. With an area of about 555 square kilometers, Noto occupies over a quarter of the Province of Syracuse and is the largest municipality in Sicily and the fourth in Italy. Its territory is, for the most part, hilly. Read More [...]
The city is located about 32 kilometers southwest of Syracuse, 35 kilometers east of Modica, 47 kilometers east of Ragusa, 94 kilometers south of Catania, 109 kilometers south of Acireale, 142 kilometers south of Taormina, and 265 kilometers southeast of Palermo.
TRANSPORT TO NOTO:
The closest airport is the Vincenzo Bellini International Airport, located about 88 kilometers away, near Catania. To get to Noto directly from the airport, you can take one of the buses of the Interbus transport company. The trip takes about one hour and a half and a ticket costs 8.40€. Read More [...]
By train, you can get to Noto from Syracuse in about 30 minutes, from Modica in about 1 hour, from Ragusa in about 1 hour and a half, and from Catania in about 3 hours and a half. A train ticket from Syracuse costs 4.20€, from Modica is 5.60€, from Ragusa 6.80€, and from Catania is 9.10€.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN NOTO:
Known as the Capital of the Baroque, Noto was declared in 2002 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, together with the other seven late Baroque cities of the Val di Noto - Caltagirone, Militello in Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli. Read More [...]
EVENTS IN NOTO:
The most important event in Noto is, without doubt, the Infiorata, a flower festival which takes place every third Sunday of May, starting with 1980. During the event, Via Nicolaci is covered with a carpet of flowers divided into panels with a different theme every year.