Nota

Monday 8th October

I may split this blog in two again, as it was quite successful yesterday - but this time I'll try to post the afternoon first, then the morning, so the two halves of the day are the right way up!

We said farewell to Siracusa and the friendly Hotel Panorama this morning and drove off towards Nota. In the early morning, you can see the Morning Glory cipovering the fences down the sides of the road is the most exquisite blue; later in the day, the colour is different, or the flowers may have closedup. Nota is less than an hour away, so it was quite early when we arrived.

Nota is a UNESCO world heritage site (as are seven other towns in the area) because it had to be totally re-built after the earthquake of 1693. It was re-built completely in the Baroque style, and the majority of the late 17th and early 18th century buildings still remain.

You enter the town through the Porta Reale (Royal Gate) built in 1838, somewhat later than the majority of the town, by a pupil of Canova. Personally, I do not like it much, so though I took a couple of photos of it, I prefer this view, looking back down the street towards it.

This is the rest of the street, in the other direction. It is called Corso V. Emanuele, and crosses the town from east to west. I was greatly taken by the flagstones, which seem to be made from slabs of black lava.

There are many beautiful buildings which you pass on the way up the street, and three principal churches. This is the stunning Cathedral, which is about half way up, standing at the top of a flight of steps.

The steps connect it with the equally stunning (though not, in this case, as recently cleaned) Palazzo Ducezio, which is the Town Hall. 

It is, apparently, built to a Palladian design. We didn't go into the Town Hall, though we did climb the steps to look at the plaques, which explained about why the eight towns were world heritage sites. Then we climbed the other steps and went into the Cathedral. 

The Cathedral is a bit plainer inside than you might expect from a Baroque church. This is because the cupola collapsed in 1996, taking most of the nave with it. It has only fairly recently been re-built, and the decoration has not been completed. In fact, there isn't any money to do any more to it at present, though more painting might be added when funds allow. The current paintings round the cupola are done by a young Russian artist. 

This beautiful street is the Via Nicolaci, which leads up to the church of Montevergine. The balconies in the street are famous for their decoration, as you may be able to see in the photograph.

The strange white markings you can see on the road surface are for the Flower Festival, which is held in early May. The idea only originated in the 1980s, but has become a tradition since then. Thousands of coloured petals are placed on the patterns so a to make various designs, and thousands of visitors come to see it.

My last photo is of the theatre in the Piazza XVI Maggio. 

I think it is called Teatro Vittore Emanuelle III, but I don't have any Internet at present to check the name or the spelling.

We wandered down to a cafe to have coffee, as it was still quite early. Then we went back to the bus, which drove us on to Ragusa for another walk and then lunch.