Things to do in Noto – 8 tips in Sicily's baroque city

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: September 2026 | Noto in southeastern Sicily is a city where it is almost difficult to know where to point the camera. Churches, palaces, grand staircases and imaginative balconies follow each other along the streets. Behind the beautiful baroque city there is also a dramatic history. The old Noto was destroyed in an earthquake in 1693 and a completely new city was built on another site.

Noto in Sicily

Noto is located in the southeastern part of Sicily, south of Syracuse and a short distance from the coast. The city is best known for its uniform Baroque architecture and is sometimes called the capital of Sicilian Baroque.

What is special is that large parts of the city were built during the same period. After the catastrophic earthquake of 1693, they chose not to rebuild old Noto on the same site. Instead, a completely new city was built about ten miles away.

Architects and city planners were thus given the opportunity to create something new, with wider streets, squares, churches and palaces in the Baroque style that was fashionable at the time. The warm golden-colored limestone contributes to the city's special character.

When we walked around here for the first time, we were almost overwhelmed by all the grand buildings. Wow, what cities there are in Sicily!

Noto is a World Heritage Site

Since 2002, Noto has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto along with seven other cities in southeastern Sicily: Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa and Scicli.

What the cities have in common is the extensive reconstruction after the earthquake of 1693. The result was an extraordinary concentration of late Baroque architecture and at the same time new ideas about urban planning.

Noto differs from many of the other cities in that the new city was built on a completely new site, which helped create an unusually cohesive cityscape.

1. Enter Noto through Porta Reale

A nice way to start the discovery of Noto is at Royal Gate, the monumental city gate in the eastern part of the center. One might think that the gate is part of the original Baroque city, but it is much younger. Porta Reale was built in the 19th century for King Ferdinand II's visit to Noto.

Once you've passed the gate, you'll enter Corso Vittorio Emanuele, and from there you can just start walking.

2. Stroll along Corso Vittorio Emanuele

Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the main thoroughfare through the historic city center and passes several of Noto's main attractions. It's also here that you really begin to understand what's special about the city. Churches, palaces and squares form a well-thought-out whole, and along the way one impressive facade after another appears.

Noto is also a convenient city to explore on foot. You don't need to hunt around between the sights with a map and a timetable. Much of the experience lies in walking, looking at details and turning off into smaller streets when something looks interesting. And look up! The balconies are almost sights in themselves.

3. See Cattedrale di San Nicolò

In the middle of Noto lies the large Cathedral of San Nicolò, also called Cattedrale di Noto. The church sits at the top of a monumental staircase and is one of the city's most famous landmarks.

Construction of the cathedral began shortly after the 1693 earthquake and continued throughout the 18th century. It was part of the new Baroque city that emerged after the disaster. But the building's history took a dramatic new turn much later.

After damage and weakening, including in connection with an earthquake in 1990, large parts of the cathedral collapsed in 1996. The dome collapsed along with parts of the roof and nave. Extensive reconstruction work followed, and the cathedral was re-consecrated in 2007.

In a way, it thus summarizes the entire history of Noto: destruction, reconstruction and a stubborn will to preserve the city.

4. See Palazzo Ducezio

Just opposite the cathedral is Palazzo Ducezio, which today serves as the town hall. The palace began construction in the 18th century and the elegant, curved facade with its columns helps to make Piazza Municipio one of Noto's most beautiful city spaces.

It's also a good place to stop and see how Baroque architects worked on the entire cityscape. The cathedral, the stairs, the palace and the square are not isolated sights but parts of a larger composition. It's much of this that makes Noto so impressive.

5. Admire the balconies of Palazzo Nicolaci

If there's anywhere you should really look up, it's at Via Nicolaci. Here is Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, a baroque palace known for its spectacular balconies. Under the balconies are fanciful stone figures including animals, people and grotesque faces.

When we visited Noto, we were captivated by all the fantastic balconies around the city. They are filled with ornaments and details that make you stand for a long time and wonder what the stonemasons were really up to.

Via Nicolaci is also the center of one of Noto's most famous traditions, Infiorata of Noto. During the flower festival in spring, the street is covered in large works of art created from flower petals and other natural materials.

It's a completely different Noto than the one we saw during our summer visit, but the festival has become one of the city's major annual events.

6. Visit the Church of San Domenico

Church of San Domenico is one of Noto's most important Baroque churches and was designed by Rosario Gagliardi, one of the most important architects behind the reconstruction of the cities in southeastern Sicily.

The church is located in Piazza XVI Maggio and has the typical curved Baroque facade that you begin to recognize after a while in Noto.

Opposite the church is the green Villa d'Ercole, which makes the square a nice break from all the golden stone. After a few hours in Noto there is a certain risk that you start to become baroque blind. Then a tree can be nice.

7. Settle down for an aperitivo

After our walk through Noto we started to feel both thirsty and hungry. The solution was a classic Italian aperitivo.

We sat down at an outdoor terrace and ordered a beer each. Along with the drink came a large plate of various small snacks. When we traveled here in 2015, the whole feast cost five euros per person. Of course, you shouldn't go around demanding that price from the restaurateurs in Noto in 2026. But the idea itself still holds up.

Aperitivo is not just about a pre-dinner drink, but also about sitting down, having a bite to eat and watching the city go by. After an afternoon among baroque churches and palaces, it's a great way to change the pace.

8. Experience Noto when the sun is low

If you have the opportunity to stop later in the day, it's worth it. The light limestone used in so many of Noto's buildings takes on a warmer tone when the sun is low. Facades, ornaments and balconies appear differently than in the middle of the day. Plus, it's much more pleasant to walk around when the worst of the summer heat has subsided.

We visited Noto during a trip where Sicily surprised us time and again with its historic cities. Noto, Syracuse and Taormina are completely different, but all three gave us the same feeling: around the next corner, another building is waiting to be photographed.

Noto Antica – the old town

Old Noto did not completely disappear when the inhabitants moved. On the site of Noto Antica, about ten miles from today's city, there are still ruins and traces of the city that was destroyed in 1693. Here you can see remains of walls, buildings and other remains from the city's long history.

It makes an interesting contrast to today's Noto. On one side are the ruins after the disaster. On the other side is the magnificent baroque city that was created in response to it. For those who are particularly interested in history, it can therefore be exciting to visit both.

Noto with a campervan

We traveled around Sicily by camper and stayed overnight at Noto Parking outside the city.

When we were here in 2015, the campsite was too far away for us to walk into the centre, but the staff drove us there and back at no extra cost. Communication was sometimes a challenge as our Italian was non-existent and our English wasn't very good, but the staff did their best to help us.

It was another one of those nice meetings that we remember from the camper trip in Sicily.

Noto Parking is still there in 2026 and current information includes places for motorhomes, electricity, water and the possibility of emptying. However, our experiences with shuttle service and other details from 2015 should not be seen as information about what is offered today. Check current prices and service directly before your visit.

Is Noto worth a visit?

Yes, definitely. Noto is not a city where you need to tick off a long list of attractions to feel satisfied. It's the whole that is the experience: the warm stone, the churches, the palaces, the sumptuous balconies and the streets that were planned as parts of the same great Baroque city.

We came here for a walk and were impressed by how much history and architecture can be found in a relatively small area. Then we settled down with a beer each and a large plate of snacks. Baroque and aperitivo. It's actually a pretty good combination.

More to see and do near Noto

There are several exciting places nearby if you want to use Noto as a starting point to discover southeastern Sicily.

Noto Antica is the obvious choice for anyone who wants to understand the city's history better. Vendicari Natural Reserve on the coast attracts with nature, birdlife and beaches, while Marzamemi is an old fishing village that has developed into a popular excursion destination with restaurants and beautiful surroundings.

A little further away is Syracuse, where the historic island of Ortigia and the remains of the ancient Greek city await. In other words, it is easy to combine baroque, ancient history, nature and swimming during a few days in this part of Sicily.