Experience Sicily

Tag: val di noto

  • January 1693 Leveled Everything

    I can’t emphasis enough how significant the infamous earthquakes of 1693 were to eastern Sicily. First of all, it wasn’t just one day or one event. “The earthquake” was a series of tremors that started on January 9, 1693 with a hypothetical 6.2 magnitude (there was no Richter Scale at the time) followed by a…

  • It Came Crashing Down In January 1693

    Pictured are the ruins of the Chiesa e Collegio de Gesuiti (Jesuit Church and College) built during the 17th century in Noto, Sicily. Today, you may visit this site in “Noto Antica,” or Ancient Noto, more than six miles away from the renowned city of Noto. Founded by Baron Carlo Giavanti, it’s hard to imagine…

  • 52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #41. European Grandeur and Stateliness

  • Commemorating The Tremendous 1693 Earthquake In Sicily

    After a magnitude (hypothetical) 6.2 foreshock on January 9, 1693, at 9PM on January 11, 1693 the earth shook in southeastern Sicily like it hasn’t since. Etna was erupting, and a tsunami struck the Ionian coasts of eastern Sicily and the Strait of Messina. We don’t know the exact scope of the earthquake’s power according…

  • In Ragusa It’s Like Spring

    Somewhere in Ragusa Province… Where I am in now the northeastern United States, it’s fall right now, and everything is turning towards its winter mode. By contrast, in southeastern Sicily, it’s like spring. After the dry days of summer and June and July’s wheat harvest, this time of year the fields are starting to regenerate…

  • Modica, Sicily And Saint Peter And Saint Paul

    Today is the feast day of the Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Peter, of course, is the protector of Rome (and popes too). But importantly (For my family especially, since my father is named Peter and I come from a long line of fishermen), he is the patron saint of net-makers, shipbuilders, and fishermen, and…

  • Noto Infiorata Online

    Although it’s not taking place as usual, the Infiorata di Noto *will* happen this weekend, yet online. Follow the events on the Facebook Page of il Comune di Noto (https://www.facebook.com/comunedinoto), where there are videos and photos of the vibrant “carpets” created with flowers and other natural elements in recognition of spring, and more significantly, life…

  • Noto’s Baroque Cathedral

    Noto’s cathedral (La Chiesa Madre di San Nicolò) was completed in 1776 when the city was rebuilt following the devastating earthquakes of 1693. The Sicilian Baroque church sits at the center of a theatrical urban plan that is known as a “stone garden” for its use of local white rock and its elegant symmetry.

  • Sicily Shook On January 11, 1693

    After a magnitude (hypothetical) 6.2 foreshock on January 9, 1693, at 9PM on January 11, 1693 the earth shook in southeastern Sicily for what historians say was four minutes. Etna erupted, and a tsunami struck the Ionian coasts of eastern Sicily and the Strait of Messina. We don’t know the exact scope of the earthquake’s…