Palazzo La Rocca

The Val di Noto, which roughly corresponds to the provinces of Catania, Syracuse and Ragusa, was one of the three administrative areas (Valleys) into which Sicily was divided during the Arab period:Val Demone, Val di Mazara, Val di Noto. The strong earthquake of 1693, whose intensity today is estimated at 7.3 on the Richter scale, killed about 93,000 people and devastated the entire Val di Noto territory, destroying houses, monuments and infrastructure. In the following years, some towns were rebuilt on the same site, while others were rebuilt in a different location. Not only the greatest architects of the period participated in this reconstruction, but also master builders, sculptors and decorators who gave life to the great late Baroque masterpiece of the Val di Noto. This area was reborn with extraordinary and fascinating peculiarities that allow it to be redefined as the “Val del Barocco” (Baroque Valley) due to the unique and continuous nature of the buildings and urban environments of the Val di Noto.