Historic Townhouse - Noto, Sicily - Colourful Shutters above Baroque Stonework

An elegant historic townhouse in Noto combines carved stone decoration, wrought-iron balconies and colourful shutters along one of the city's narrow streets.

An elegant historic townhouse in Noto displays richly carved stonework, slender wrought-iron balconies and colourful wooden shutters above a narrow street in the Sicilian town. Decorative window surrounds, sculpted balcony supports and the carefully detailed entrance provide an intimate example of the architectural character found beyond Noto's monumental churches and grand public buildings. The present city of Noto was constructed on a new site after the catastrophic earthquake of 1693 devastated the older settlement. Its reconstruction created an unusually harmonious townscape in which churches, palaces and residential buildings were designed according to the Late Baroque tastes of the period. Local stone and the skills of Sicilian craftsmen played an important role in creating the elaborate façades that continue to distinguish the historic centre. Noto forms part of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, a group of eight south-eastern Sicilian towns inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2002 for their exceptional architecture and post-earthquake urban reconstruction.