Visit to Noto

Tuesday March 1 was a mix of sun and cloud, with a bit of rain.  It was our coolest day so far with a high of only 10C.  We decided to drive through Scicli (another Inspector Montalbano location), then head down to the sea, and then head back inland to Noto, another baroque town.

Interesting courtyard near our apartment in Modica

It was windy near the sea and almost deserted.  There were a lot of vacation homes that were boarded up, but the beach was lovely.  We stopped for a coffee at Marina di Ragusa.

The beach

Freighter in the distance

We imagined this beach in the summer

Boarded up vacation homes

Driving by the sea-- reeds waving in the wind

We arrived in Noto just before 2:00 p.m. and wanted to have lunch before the restaurants close.  We ended up at Trattoria Fontana d'Ercole, a family run place specializing in Sicilian food.  David, Alonso and I started with a wonderful mussel soup in a tomato based sauce.

Mussel soup

Vicky had some lovely fried small whitefish.

For a main, Vicky had pasta with scamorza cheese, pork and eggplant.

Amazing pasta

David had ravioli with ricotta cheese in a tomato sauce.

Alonso and I shared a piece of swordfish in a tomato and olive sauce.

At the restaurant

Noto has a population of 24,000 and dates back to the early 18th century, when it was almost entirely rebuilt in the wake of the devastating 1693 earthquake.  It has one of Sicily's most beautiful historic centres.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Chiesa di San Domenico

Teatro Tina di Lorenzo

Corso Vittorio Emanuele-- wide main street with beautiful buildings

Chiesa di San Carlo

The store was closed, but the sign was fun

Chiesa di Montevergini- a beautiful church at the top of a street

Interesting lamps

Palazzo Ducezio was built in 1746 by Vincenzo Sinatra.  It is now the Town Hall.

Town Hall

Wall hanging at the Town Hall

We stopped and went into Cattedrale di San Nicolo which was renovated after the cupola collapsed in 1996.  It reopened in 2007.  The Cattedrale was originally completed in 1776 and is Noto's main Cathedral.

Cattedrale di San Nicolo

Redone ceiling

There was a piece done by Elia Li Gioi- a monument in solidarity with the migrants.  It had a quote from Pope Francis, which translated as "Who will weep for these dead".

We also passed a monument to those killed in World War I.

Noto is supposed to have some of the best gelato in Sicily, but the two recommended places were closed when we were walking about.  Luckily, it was a bit too cold for ice cream.

We passed the Bar Pinguino, in existence since 1940.

We paused in front of the Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, which had a series of wonderful gargoyles. The Palazzo gives you a sense of the extravagant lifestyle of Sicilian nobles.

Very expressive gargoyles

Interesting detail under balconies

Another locked door

The only faces on this building

Palazzo Battaglia 1735

Beautiful flowers

Two doors for one

Lots of doors for short folks

We headed back to Modica through the back roads.  The navigation system on the car took us down some very steep narrow roads on the outskirts of the city,  but we made it back in one piece.  Had a light dinner at the apartment.  We are enjoying exploring the baroque towns of Sicily.  Tomorrow we're off to Ragusa.