A few months ago, Nazim and I went on a wonderful trip to southeastern Sicily, taking the opportunity to visit a couple of friends who had moved to Syracuse for a few months. Lidia was part of the cast of Ajiaco, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles around 445 BC, which was performed during the summer months in the Greek theater inside the city’s archaeological park.
It was an incredible journey that we wished could have lasted much longer, full of discoveries and wonders that we will share with you little by little.
However, we’d like to start with something special, hoping to pique your curiosity (and I assure you, Sicily is overflowing with curiosities and surprising beauty).
While gathering information to write this article, we came across an ongoing project that is changing the fate of the site we wanted to talk about.
But let’s take it step by step.
We are in the city of Noto, in the province of Syracuse, now famous and visited by tourists from all over the world. I don’t want to repeat myself, but in 2002, its historic center was also declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
When I first visited in the 1990s, the city still had a rather desolate appearance—semi-abandoned, with beautiful buildings propped up to prevent them from collapsing.
Walking through the sun-drenched streets under the merciless August light, I wondered how much longer those time-worn and neglected buildings could survive, as no one seemed to care about them or recognize their value. The feeling was heartbreaking, and I never would have imagined that Noto would transform into the admired and visited city of art that it is today.
In the last century, the important journalist and art critic Ugo Ojetti gave this description of the city, which I find perfectly fitting:
“Noto at the beginning of the 18th century is one of our cities that arose all at once, as if by the will of a single entity, a precise image of the taste of an era. Visiting it—its palaces, churches, convents, and theater—feels like witnessing a single monument, all built from the same golden limestone, in the same flamboyant Baroque style, with grandeur uninterrupted and a regal lavishness.”
A Step Back in Time
But let’s take another step back: on January 9 and 11, 1693, a devastating earthquake struck the Val di Noto, with a magnitude of 7.3—the most catastrophic earthquake in Italy’s recorded history. A tsunami followed. The death toll was brutal: 60,000 lives lost.
Sicily has endured two other devastating earthquakes—one earlier in 1169 and another later in 1908—but neither reached the scale of destruction of the 1693 quake.
Practically all the towns in the Val di Noto were razed to the ground: Sortino, Ragusa, Modica, Avola, Noto—just to name a few.
In many areas, fissures opened in the ground, releasing gas, hot water, and molten materials, while Mount Etna intensified its activity. The tsunami that struck the entire southeastern coast, from Messina to Syracuse, reached 15 meters high (about the height of a five-story building).
A vision of hell. A scene from the end of the world.
The Reconstruction and the Birth of a New Architectural Style
The reconstruction effort that followed not only completely reshaped a vast area of Sicily but also became one of the first examples of earthquake-resistant urban planning. The response from both the population and the ruling class was immediate, fueling a major building boom.
Architects, engineers, artisans, skilled workers, citizens from all social classes, the Spanish ruling elite, and the Church all contributed to the rebirth of these devastated areas. Everywhere, the white limestone from the Iblean Mountains and the black volcanic stone from Etna were used for new buildings.
This is why the Baroque style is so pervasive in this region of Sicily. The total destruction caused by the earthquake provided an opportunity for these lands to acquire a new face—the same one we admire today, 300 years later.
Indeed, the city was completely redesigned, with wide, straight streets that have little in common with the winding medieval layouts of less-traumatized cities. This explains the stylistic unity of Noto and other towns in southwestern Sicily.
A visit to Noto is therefore a must for anyone who wants to admire Baroque architecture in its purest form.
A Hidden Treasure: Palazzo Castelluccio
But we want to draw your attention to a palace that we honestly discovered by chance while strolling through the city. Almost on our way back, near the end of Via Cavour, at number 10, we stumbled upon it.
The exterior facade reveals the transition from Baroque to Neoclassical (not surprising, as it is located on a secondary street rather than the main one), with its beautiful wrought-iron balcony.
We found the same aesthetic in the frescoes decorating the noble floor’s interiors.
Rebuilt in 1782 for the Di Lorenzo family, the Marquises of Castelluccio, the palace was later donated by Marquis Corrado Di Lorenzo to the Order of the Knights of Malta, who kept possession of it for about thirty years.
With its 105 rooms and 5,000 square meters, Palazzo Di Lorenzo del Castelluccio is one of the largest noble residences in the Val di Noto, which gives us great hope—and we’ll explain why.
Peeking through the entrance door, we noticed a ticket office, and we decided to postpone our return to Syracuse to visit the palace. I can confidently say that this was an incredible stroke of luck.
In 2011, the palace was purchased by the French journalist, television producer, and collector Jean Louis Remilleux, who, after extensive restoration work, opened it to the public in 2018.
A Restoration of Unimaginable Dedication
The research, passion, and predominantly conservative restoration work carried out on the palace took six years, with investments that are unimaginable to ordinary people. The result is breathtaking.
Every piece, mostly Neoclassical, in the museum is unique and original, and none of the decor was altered where unnecessary. The wallpaper in some of the reception rooms was recreated by artisans based on the original designs. We can only imagine the cost of this single operation.
During the visit, the rooms unfold one after another—silent, enveloped by the grace of Neoclassical decorations, bathed in Sicilian light, and adorned with delicately colored majolica tiles from Caltagirone in soft shades of blue and antique pink, worn only in the areas where diligent servants once bustled.
Even the ground floor, once reserved for the staff and used for kitchens and pantries, has been arranged to recreate the busy atmosphere where lavish banquets were prepared for the palace’s numerous guests.
The Palace’s Future
Monsieur Remilleux managed to preserve the passage of time in this place—the soft grace of Sicily, the intimate warmth of interiors once designed for people who knew how to create and enjoy spaces of privilege.
However, while researching for this article, we discovered that Palazzo Castelluccio is now closed to the public. Nazim (Casa Chiesi’s tech expert) quickly searched with ChatGPT to understand what had happened.
Could it be possible that such a fascinating place, open to the public for only a few years, was already closed?
Within seconds, we found out that Palazzo Castelluccio had been purchased by an entrepreneur in the luxury hospitality sector and is set to be transformed into an upscale hotel, scheduled to open in 2026.
Our investigation continued to find out who would be in charge of the artistic direction of the project, and fortunately, it seems that the palace has fallen into good hands.
We say this because too often, such historical gems are not treated with the care they deserve. Greed and ignorance frequently go hand in hand, destroying both historical and aesthetic heritage.
Of course, it is unfortunate that this palace will no longer be accessible to the public, and only a lucky few will have the privilege of staying there. But since it is a private property, there is little room for debate.
Better preserved for a few than left in ruins? Living in Italy, we can’t help but say… yes!
Betti
How to get to Noto: