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Situated in southeastern Sicily, Val di Noto (the Noto Valley) – with its eight gorgeous late-Baroque cities – became one of the Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2002. The eight cities are: Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli. These cities already existed during the Medieval Age, but were...

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To be the mayor of Noto is not such a terrible life. To my mind, this little city in southeastern Sicily is one of the most enchanting in all of Europe. Along its main drag, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, stands one gorgeous building after another, built in the grand, 17th-century Baroque style. The whole place looks like a movie set (a steamy episode of...

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My great grandfather Niccolò Cipollina was born in the Cala, Palermo’s ancient port, in 1899. My great grandmother was born in Villarosa in the Enna province at around the same time. My Sicily roots run deep and it’s one of my favorite places to travel. It’s also a frustrating place to dine out since so many restaurants exist mainly to cater to tou...

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They met in California back in the 1970s when they were both 18 and went on to marry at the age of 21. Over five decades later, Randy Allen and Cindy Harding Nannarelli from the US are both living in Italy with their husbands. In fact, the two couples’ homes in Noto, Sicily are located just a short distance from each other. “We share a lot of meals...

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The most representative city of Sicilian Baroque is eager to enchant you: let it cast its spell. It's difficult to resist such magic when everything around seems somehow dipped in gold. The effect is due to the material used for the buildings erected after the 1693 earthquake, a local stone in amazing golden and pinkish shades. Noto is the highest...

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The beating heart of the Val di Noto is–by no surprise–Noto. The Baroque city, the epicentre of the valley, emerges from the scorched landscape of southern Sicily like a mirage. The contours of its ramparts reflect the light of the brilliant sun and refracts it off the honey-hued stone typical of the area. This is how I remember my first visit to N...

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A magical event that combines religion, folklore and the beauty of nature in spring. If you visit Italy in spring, there is no doubt that the infiorata festivals are a wonderful event to witness. We have already talked about them in this article, collecting what we think are the most beautiful and fascinating ones, from North to South.  Among them,...

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Italy can’t help herself. She looks beautiful, as always, on screen. And she can’t pass up a chance to be the setting of a hit TV show. Of course, that leads to a boom in tourism. This leads to more people falling in love with Italy’s gorgeous settings. Yada yada yada…it’s a vicious cycle. Now that the worst of the pandemic seems to be behind us —...

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Sicily is a Mediterranean paradise, where beauty, culture and history converge - a magical land forged by the mercurial Mount Etna, one of the world's most active volcanoes. Etna's dominating presence metaphorically divides the island into an idyllic east and a bustling west. It's the volcano's mythology and volatility that make Sicily the perfect...

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There are few more universally appreciated moments in design than a dramatic before-and-after reveal—especially when the home in question is an 18th-century Sicilian palace. Palazzo Castelluccio was built by the region’s most prominent patriarch, Marquis di Lorenzo del Castelluccio, in 1782, following the devastating earthquake that struck nearly a...

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