The 1693 earthquake erased old Noto; the answer was one of Europe's most radical urban ventures: rebuild everything elsewhere, in a golden stone that catches fire at sunset. The result — the "garden of stone" — is the capital of Sicilian Baroque, UNESCO-listed since 2002: the cathedral atop its staircase, Palazzo Ducezio, the Palazzo Nicolaci balconies held up by sirens and griffins.
On May's third Sunday, Via Nicolaci is carpeted with petals for the Infiorata. Around town wait the nero d'Avola vineyards, the Vendicari reserve with its flamingos and the Calamosche beach: the south-east at its peak.
Near Noto
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
