World Heritage Identification Number: 1024
World Heritage since: 2002
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Historic Cities & Urban Areas
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇮🇹 Italy
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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The Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto: A Testament to Resilience and Artistic Excellence in South-Eastern Sicily
The Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002, offer a captivating glimpse into the rich history, culture, and architectural prowess of south-eastern Sicily. This region, historically known as one of the three valli of Sicily, is characterized by its limestone Hyblaean plateau and has been a significant center of human settlement since ancient times.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The eight towns in south-eastern Sicily: Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli, were all rebuilt after 1693 on or beside towns existing at the time of the earthquake which took place in that year. They represent a considerable collective undertaking, successfully carried out at a high level of architectural and artistic achievement. Keeping within the late Baroque style of the day, they also depict distinctive innovations in town planning and urban building.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (i): The Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto in south-eastern Sicily provide outstanding testimony to the exuberant genius of late Baroque art and architecture.
Criterion (ii): The Late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto represent the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe.
Criterion (iv): The exceptional quality of the late Baroque art and architecture in the Val di Noto lies in its geographical and chronological homogeneity, and is the result of the 1693 earthquake in this region.
Criterion (v): The eight Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto in south-eastern Sicily are characteristic of the settlement pattern and urban form of this region, are permanently at risk from earthquakes and eruptions of Mount Etna.
Encyclopedia Record: Val di Noto
Val di Noto is a historical and geographical area encompassing the south-eastern third of Sicily; it is dominated by the limestone Hyblaean plateau. Historically, it was one of the three valli of Sicily.Additional Site Details
Area: 112.79 hectares
Number of Components: 8
(ii) — Significant interchange of human values
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(v) — Outstanding example of traditional human settlement
Coordinates: 36.89319444 , 15.06891667
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© Archeo, CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
World Heritage Research
Discover scientific research and academic studies that deepen our understanding of Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily) from its history and significance to its conservation, management, and contemporary challenges.
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Petrographic, microstructural and petrophysical study of asphaltic limestone employed in the Late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto UNESCO site (south-eastern Sicily)
A petrographic, microstructural, and petrophysical study of asphaltic limestone (pitchstone) from the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto UNESCO site reveals a strong correlation between bitumen impregnation levels and the material's distinctive visual properties as well as its superior physical-mechanical performance. The research employed advanced techniques such as synchrotron X-ray microtomography, ultrasonic testing, gas chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis to investigate two representative pitchstone samples with varying bitumen content. Findings demonstrate that the amount of bitumen impregnation directly influences both the petrofabric and petrophysical properties of the stone, offering insights into its durability and aesthetic characteristics in historic architectural applications.
Punturo, R., Indelicato, V., Lanzafame, G., Maniscalco, R., Fazio, E., Bloise, A., Muschella, L., & Cirrincione, R. (2023). Petrographic, microstructural and petrophysical study of asphaltic limestone employed in the Late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto UNESCO site (south-eastern Sicily). Construction and Building Materials, 371, 130730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.130730
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