The guided tour begins at the entrance to the historic centre, the Porta Reale or Porta Ferdinandea, and continues towards the Church of Saint Francesco d’Assisi. We will climb the beautiful staircase to visit the church and admire one of its most beautiful interiors, enriched with magnificent frescoes and refined decorations. Next to the church, we can admire the exterior of the Convent of the Holy Savior, an elegant historic building that completes the charming religious complex.

Walking along the high street, a few steps away we find another beautiful church in which the Baroque style is very recognisable especially inside: we are talking about the Church of Santa Chiara next to a former Benedictine monastery, where you can admire the columns embellished with stuccoes, statues of the apostles and putti.

The tour continues by arriving in Piazza del Duomo, home to the majestic Palazzo Ducezio, the seat of the Town Hall, built between the 18th and 19th centuries. We will admire the exterior of this elegant neoclassical building, characterised by its refined façade overlooking the beautiful square and representing one of the symbols of Noto’s Baroque heritage.

In front of this baroque-style jewel stands the monumental staircase that leads to the stupendous Cathedral of S. Nicolò, the very symbol of Noto with its honey colour that characterises it at sunset and which we will visit inside. Built in the eighteenth century, it has collapsed three times over time, it has been rebuilt even if many frescoes have been lost; the beautiful facade has two bell towers, one housing a bell while the other has a clock.

We continue the visit reaching another well-known symbolic place, namely Via Nicolaci, the street where the infiorata is set up (a carpet of flowers lying on the road) which attracts many tourists and we will also visit externally from some of the most beautiful buildings in Noto.

One of these palaces for sure is Palazzo Nicolaci with its beautiful and famous balconies decorated in the lower part with statues, masks, animals and various figures carved in the limestone in the typical Baroque style.

Walking through the alleys of the historic centre we can admire from the outside the Loggia del Mercato which was once the seat of the Noto market with the wrought iron loggia and today used for cultural events. We end the guided tour by discovering the elegant building that houses the Tina di Lorenzo Theatre in neoclassical style and the marble Fountain of Hercules built in the 1700s.