Noto Cathedral

Noto Cathedral in Sicily is dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra and is also known as the Chiesa Madre di San Nicolò. It was built after the earthquake of 1693 as part of the reconstruction of south-eastern Sicily; construction began in the early 18th century to designs by Rosario Gagliardi. Work on the façade began in late 1767, and the building was completed in 1776 under Bernardo Labisi.

On 13 March 1996 a large part of the church, including the dome, collapsed; an earthquake in 1990 had weakened it beforehand. It reopened on 15 June 2007. The interior has been plain white since then, because the 18th-century furnishings were destroyed in the collapse. The cathedral holds the relics of the town’s patron saint, Corrado Confalonieri.

Noto lies less than 40 km south-west of Syracuse and is regarded as having one of Sicily’s most beautiful historic centres. Lonely Planet recommends the Corso Vittorio Emanuele in the early evening, when the red-gold Baroque buildings seem to glow. The Palazzo Ducezio and the Teatro Tina Di Lorenzo are also on the Corso. Allow about an hour for the church and the Corso.