Noto

So harmonious it looks staged, Noto was born from a disaster: the earthquake of 1693. Before then it stood ten kilometres away. For the rebuild they chose easier ground, allowing a linear plan with wide parallel streets in the new Baroque taste.

The local limestone, coloured by time, has taken on golden and pinkish tones that turn warm at sunset. The layout is theatrical: perspectives are studied and deliberately tricked, facades play with curves, brackets, scrolls, masks, putti and wrought iron balconies.

The main axis is Corso Vittorio Emanuele, punctuated by three squares, each with its church. Piazza Municipio is the grandest, framed by Palazzo Ducezio and the Cathedral with its vast staircase. Do not miss via Nicolaci and the balconies of Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, held up by brackets shaped as putti, horses, mermaids and lions.

A Unesco World Heritage site since 2002. On the third Sunday of May the Infiorata fills via Nicolaci with a carpet of flowers laid by local artists.