VAL DI NOTO
28 September - 3 October 2024
A few days in Sicily, to a part less visited than some, namely Noto and its surrounds (the Val di Noto) in the south east. The idea was to explore the so-called “baroque cities”, which represent - as someone said - the silver lining of a very black cloud. The black cloud was a devastating earthquake - the silver lining the wonderful revival after it. We’ll come onto the detail.
Arrival at Catania
But first, getting there - which had its Sicilian aspects. We fly to Catania. No problem, although the flight gets in (as scheduled) alarmingly late at 8.30 in the evening, well after dark.
We’ve rented a car through Avis. Avis has no desk at the terminal. We go outside and have to walk - with bags - about a quarter of a mile to another building, to be confronted by a queue of confused travellers and one of those ghastly queue systems that require you to take a ticket - always showing a number way after the number at the front of the queue. With the help of a bit of elbowing, we get to the front and get our papers.
Then we’re told that the car is another quarter of a mile away. Not easy to find, in the dark, with minimal signs.
Mentally if not physically exhausted, we struggle to find the way to the autostrada. Again, unbelievably, no - or minimal - signs. At one point, faced with a fork and not being able to guess which route to choose, I got out of the car, amid much hooting from behind, and asked for directions. Which were given with great politeness and friendliness - the Italians may not be good at signage, but they are certainly friendly!
We arrived at our hotel at 11.30, not a little exhausted. One of the lessons is: avoid Avis, particularly in Catania. The other - I have to admit - is to rely on the likes of Google Maps and Waze - which I use less than I should.
Masseria della Volpe
Our hotel is the Masseria della Volpe (the Farmstead of the Fox, is what I think it means), not in or particularly near Noto, which was our main destination. It’s a spa hotel, highly luxurious, out in the hills among the olive trees. My first reaction was to wonder why the excellent travel firm, Kirker, had put us in a relatively remote spa hotel to see Noto, but I started quite quickly to come round to the idea.
It has a gigantic swimming pool, surrounded by elegant loungers. Certainly nice to return to after an energetic morning climbing around the cities and exploring the baroque architecture. Also, it was never going to be just Noto and the hotel is roughly equidistant to and from the various cities we want to visit. All good!
Sunny skies
A note about the weather. The end of September and the beginning of October are definitely a good time to come. We hardly saw a cloud while we were there. It’s still warm during the day (upper 20s C) and not as hot as it gets during mid-
summer. It then gets cool in the evening and at night (down to about 17C}. As a result the pool (unheated) is bearable, though not quite up to my normal demanding standards.
Going to Noto
On our first morning we go to Noto. In some trepidation about parking. Actually Noto is easier than some of the other cities. We found ourselves miraculously at a car park that referred to itself as the parcheggio centrale and were led in by a friendly local.
The car park is on a slight incline, leading to a minor drama. Our little red
rented car is sufficiently modern not to have the kind of hand brake that has worked for the last hundred years or so. You have to press a button - or lift a button (I still can’t remember which!). We did one or the other - the wrong one - and the car started to glide down towards the other vehicles, until - just in time - we managed to halt its progress.
Baroque cities
We need a note about the history - about the black cloud and the silver lining.
The whole of this part of Sicily was hit by a massive earthquake in 1693. All the cities in what they call the Val di Noto, including obviously Noto itself, were destroyed. The remarkable thing is that they recovered in the way they did.
Noto
Noto was entirely rebuilt, not even in exactly the same place. It was rebuilt along the side of a hill, on the basis of straight streets in a kind of hillside grid, and in the baroque style then current but largely unknown in Sicily. So today we see buildings in splendid 18th century style, built in the lovely golden local limestone.
The main streets of Noto, straight and parallel as indicated, are named after the two creators of modern Italy, the king Vittorio Emanuele, and the statesman Count Cavour. We walk along the Via Cavour and then down one of the side streets to the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, on which - or rather overlooking which - is the main building of the city, the Cathedral - see the photo at the beginning of this post.
Quite recently, the cathedral suffered another disaster. The dome collapsed, taking with it
much of the interior - probably the after-effect of yet another earthquake. The old-ish guidebook I have has a picture of it with the dome (in the background) open to the sky. But now they’ve rebuilt it all. The interior is white, not at all like a baroque church in Rome or elsewhere in Italy.
Noto is easy to enjoy with its straight streets, lined with splendid baroque buildings. One of the streets off the Corso Vittorio Emanuele near the cathedral is typical. It has a palazzo with amazing balconies supported by stone brackets carved with grotesque animals and other exotica - like the ones below..
Modica
Next day, Modica, another of our baroque cities, also rebuilt after the devastation of 1693.
Modica is a challenge, largely in terms of getting there and - you’ve guessed - parking the car. We’d been given a map by the helpful girl at the hotel and told how there would be no problem parking along the main drag. She is one of the world’s delightful optimists. We were confronted by the usual combination of lack of signs, tortuous streets (much more so than Noto), impatient local drivers and indecipherable parking restrictions.
Eventually we found ourselves in the central Piazza from which the main streets lead off, including the Corso Umberto that we were looking for. But here we need a bit more history - another disaster.
Originally, the city was built on the confluence of two rivers that formed a Y where they joined up at the point where we were standing. In 1902 there was a catastrophic flood. The locals then managed to divert the rivers and convert the former river beds into the main streets of the city.
What they couldn’t do is alter the fact that the city is built on the slopes of a ravine, involving much climbing for the poor tourist.
The main building of Modica is the Cathedral of San Giorgio (see above). John Julius Norwich says in his history of Sicily (and he is not alone) that it is the most beautiful baroque church in Sicily. It is famous for the 300 steps that lead up to it from the Corso Umberto and for the magnificent three story tower over the entrance. It is certainly beautiful and indeed spectacular, presiding over the city at the top of its steps. The interior, more typically baroque than Noto, has a striking statue of the ubiquitous - and in this case, somewhat androgynous - St George laying into the dragon.
After seeing the greatest baroque church in Italy, we felt that anything else might be an anticlimax, so had a pasta in a local trattoria (the Ignazio, since you ask) on the Corso Umberto. Thus fortified, we found our way - with only a little difficulty - back onto the autostrada that we were getting to know so well.
Autostrada and other roads
All the places we wanted to see are essentially connected by an autostrada. It runs from Catania, past Noto, and on to Modica, where it ends, although they are extending it beyond. It is excellent and must be quite new, financed doubtless with the help of the EU. Each exit is equipped with elaborate toll gates. Happily, they haven’t got around to installing the cash machines. So it’s still all free.
The traffic is minimal. There seems to be a near-uniform speed limit of 80 kph (50 mph) which is plainly unrealistic, particularly in Italy! I failed to detect anyone taking the smallest notice of the limit, despite the endless signs about the controllo elettronico. Vehicles go at the normal continental motorway speed of 130 kph, some considerably more. It’s a race track!
The other roads, for example those into Modica over the mountains, are winding with plenty of hairpin bends. They tend to have a 50 kph limit, which seems about right to me. But not to the locals! I tend to be followed by a queue of at least half a dozen impatient Italians. To their credit, they don’t hoot; they just drive much too close (up my backside) and often overtake at some considerable danger to themselves.
Ragusa Ibla
On to the third of our baroque cities, Ragusa or, more accurately, Ragusa Ibla the old part. Again, the same troubles about getting there and finding a place to park - all too boring to go into.
Ragusa Ibla is built on the side of a rocky promontory. It is truly spectacular, particularly from the various approach roads. The challenge is walking around it. Mary suspected this and opted out, enjoying the delights of the Masseria della Volpe instead.
My first stop was the Chiesa delle Anime Sante del Purgatorio, a dedication that certainly caught my attention. It means, I believe, the holy souls in Purgatory. I’d never heard of a church dedicated in this way, partly I suppose because we, since the Reformation, have stopped believing in Purgatory.
Then on to the cathedral, which is the most spectacular building in Ibla. Dedicated to San Giorgio - again! (How is it that the old dragon-slayer had such a following in the Val di Noto?) It involves quite a long walk up the narrow streets of the old town. But worth it. The church has the multi-story tower that was the speciality of the baroque architects of the time. Looking great in its golden stone against the clear blue sky.
Scicli
Our last day - Scicli, pronounced “Sheeklee”, confusing though that is to English speakers. A much smaller town than the others, also devastated by the 1693 earthquake, and also rebuilt à la baroque.
This involved a change of plan - in so far as we had any plans to change. My idea had been to go on our final day to Syracuse, last seen by me in the 1960s. Obviously involving a different experience to the baroque cities, transporting us back a few thousand years to Ancient Greece and the disastrous Athenian invasion of Sicily.
We thought better of it. We decided to skip the Ear of Dionysius and go to the city of Scicli. It was a good decision. Scicli is lovely, relatively small, much more accessible, and delightful to wander around.
The town has become well-known among fans of the Montalbano mystery stories of Andrea Camilleri - apparently the TV series was filmed there.
Our wanderings took us first to what seemed to be the centre, but we found a complete lack of cafés. No cafés in an Italian town! How could this be? We were reduced to getting some from a kiosk, then sitting on a park bench with a friendly Dutch couple.
However, the kiosk lady directed us to some restaurants and we found one called Buki Buki, located opposite the elegant town hall. After our delicious pasta, we made friends with the waitress who showed us her tattoo - on her arm, before you jump to conclusions. It was in Latin: “Quos amor verus tenuit tenebit” by Seneca, which I don’t need to tell you means “True love will hold on to those whom it has held”. (Translation courtesy of my brother.)
The apparent lack of cafés reminds me of another curiosity we came across. None of the restaurants we went to for lunch could do an ice cream or, because of that, an affogato, ice cream submerged in a slug of coffee. What’s that about? In Italy, the home of the gelato, they can’t produce something that is now much appreciated and available even in far-off London.
Manna - from Heaven
I should finish with a mention of the one dinner we had away from the hotel. Our friends, John and Pam Warrillow, had recommended Manna, located on the coast in Lido di Noto. A very special place, run by the charming Stefano, who told us that it had been going for some ten years. It’s in the courtyard of an old building, not easy to find - definitely not aiming at the passing trade. Excellent food, in lovely surroundings.
Tony Herbert
4 October 2024
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