I spent a morning in the town of Noto, and enjoyed strolling along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, sitting in café’s and taking in the great façade’s. There was still a lot of restoration going on when we visited and there was no access to the Duomo, however the façade was viewable when we first turned up as the hoardings covering it were taken down, and it did look very impressive.
As with Els we were very impressed with the Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata and its great balconies. The whole of this bloc of the town was had speakers playing soft rock (Michael Bolton) it was not really noticeable when we first turned up but became a little irritating after a while. The street leading up the hill next to the Palazzo was being prepared to host decorative flowerbeds so it would be lovely to see this all in bloom in the summer.
I really enjoyed our time here, and the architecture was very impressive and displayed many of the key characteristics of Sicilian Baroque. I had hoped to see a few more of the town however a delayed ferry stopped us from getting to these. I feel that I can claim this as a visited site, mostly based on intent.
Noto was a really lovely place to spend a few hours, and the architecture was very impressive, but unfortunately under extensive restoration. Still it was great place to wonder around and fuelled by the excellent coffee and ice cream.