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Noto is regarded as having a possible Ancient Greek etymology. Likely, the name is derived from "south" (Greek: Νότιο Πήλιο), as in Notion and Notio Aigaio.
The old town, Noto Antica, lies 8 kilometres (5 mi) directly north on Mount Alveria. A city of Sicel origin, it was known as Netum in ancient times. In 263 BCE the city was granted to Hiero II by the Romans. According to legend, Daedalus stayed in the city after his flight over the Ionian Sea, as did Hercules after his seventh task. During the Roman era, it opposed the magistrate Verres.
A view of Noto Town Hall.
In 866 it was conquered by the Muslims, who elevated the city to become a capital of one of the three districts of the island (the Val di Noto). In 1091, it became the last Islamic stronghold in Sicily to fall to the Christians.[5] Later it became a rich Norman city.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was home to several notable intellectual figures, including Giovanni Aurispa, jurists Andrea Barbazio and Antonio Corsetto, as well as architect Matteo Carnelivari and composer Mario Capuana. In 1503 King Ferdinand III granted it the title of civitas ingeniosa ("Ingenious City"). In the following centuries, the city expanded, growing beyond its medieval limits, and new buildings, churches and convents were built.
The medieval town of Noto was virtually razed by the 1693 Sicilian earthquake.[6] Over half the population is said to have died from the earthquake.[7] It was decided to rebuild the town at the present site, on the left bank of the River Asinaro, closer to the Ionian shore. These circumstances have led this town to have a unique architectural homogeneity since the core of the town was all built over the next decades after the calamity in what is a typical and highly preserved example of Sicilian baroque. The layout followed a grid system by Giovanni Battista Landolina and utilized the sloping hillside for scenographic effects. The architects Rosario Gagliardi, Francesco Sortino and others each participated in designing multiple structures. The town was dubbed the "Stone Garden" by Cesare Brandi and is currently listed among UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Many of the newer structures are built of a soft tufa stone, which assumes a honey tonality under sunlight.[clarification needed] Parts of the cathedral, however, unexpectedly collapsed in 1996.
The city, which had lost its provincial capital status in 1817, rebelled against the House of Bourbon on 16 May 1860, leaving its gates open to Giuseppe Garibaldi and his expedition. Five months later, on 21 October, a plebiscite sealed the annexation of Noto to Piedmont.
In 1844, Noto was named a diocese, but in 1866 suffered the abolition of the religious guilds, which had been deeply linked to the city's structures and buildings.
Noto was freed from the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini in July 1943. The Notinesi people voted in favour of the monarchy in the referendum of 1946.
Noto is famous for its buildings from the early 18th century, many of which are considered to be among the finest examples of Sicilian baroque style. It is a place of many religious buildings and several palaces.
San Girolamo church also known as Chiesa di Montevergine
Santa Maria dell'Arco: church and former Cistercian monastery, founded in 1212 under the patronage of Count Isimberto or Isemberto di Morengia and is wife Sara[8] The church moved from Arco to the old Noto, then after 1693 to the new Noto. Church designed by Rosario Gagliardi. The monastery was closed by 1789, and little remains of the original structure.[9]
Santa Maria del Carmelo church
Santa Maria del Gesù church
Santa Maria della Rotonda church
Santa Maria della Scala church
San Michele Arcangelo church
San Nicola di Mira church
Sacro Nome di Gesu church
San Pietro Martire church
San Pietro delle Rose (Saints Peter and Paul) church
Santissimo Salvatore church
Santissimo Salvatore: church and benedictine convent (1735), designed by Gagliardi. It has an oval plant, the interior divided by twelve columns housing a Madonna with Child from the 16th century
Spirito Santo church
Santissima Trinità church
Archaeological sites
The remains of Noto's ancient structures are almost entirely hidden beneath the ruins of the mediaeval town, except for three chambers cut into the rock. One is noted by an inscription in the library at Noto to have belonged to a gymnasium, while the other two were heroa (shrines of heroes). Explorations have discovered four cemeteries dating to the third Sicel period and one from the Greek period. Among other finds are catacombs of the Christian period and several Byzantine tombs.
About 6 kilometres (4 mi) south of Noto, on the left bank of the Tellaro (Helorus) river, stands a stone column about 10 metres (33 ft) high, which is believed to be a memorial to the surrender of Nicias. In the 3rd century BC, a tomb was excavated in the rectangular area which surrounds it, destroying an apparently pre-existing tomb. Remnants of a later burial site belonging to the necropolis of the small town of Helorus, 750 metres (2,460 ft) to the southeast, have been discovered. The Villa Romana del Tellaro is a Roman villa located south of Noto.
^The Val in Val di Noto is in Sicilian and in Italian a grammatically masculine term, and it does not refer to a 'Valley' as is usual in Italian geographical names, which are although always grammatically feminine, but to one of the Provinces or Governorates into which Sicily was administratively divided under Arab rule and up until the 1812 administrative reform. The corresponding Arabic term is wāli (والي), and the Sicilian val is akin to the Arab wilayah (ولاية) or the Turkish vilayet (ولايت), used as it would be a calque of the English term shire
