Church of Santa Chiara
The Church of the Assumption, an oval Baroque jewel by Rosario Gagliardi.
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A Baroque form shaped around light
Along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, opposite the complex of Santissimo Salvatore, stands the church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and commonly known as Santa Chiara. It is a documented work by Rosario Gagliardi and formed part of the former monastic complex.
History and architecture
A reading of the building through its oval plan, sculpture and artworks, some of them brought from ancient Noto.
A church in the new Noto
Santa Chiara belongs to the great Baroque rebuilding that followed the 1693 earthquake. Rosario Gagliardi’s design places the church within the monumental sequence of the Corso and in urban dialogue with Santissimo Salvatore.
The power of the oval plan
The interior has an oval plan enriched with stucco and putti. Twelve columns articulate the space and support statues of the Apostles by the Noto stucco artist Basile, creating a continuous and enveloping perception of the church.
From the Assumption to ancient Noto
The high altar is crowned by a painting of the Assumption. Among the most precious works is a sixteenth-century marble Madonna and Child recovered from Noto Antica and attributed to the Gagini workshop, together with a nineteenth-century altarpiece by S. Lo Forte depicting Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica.
Architecture, music and panorama
The church preserves two superimposed choir lofts and the terrace of the bell tower, elements that extend the story of the sacred space toward music and the urban landscape of Baroque Noto.
A place to be told through images
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On Noto’s monumental Corso
Santa Chiara stands along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the heart of the historic centre and opposite the Santissimo Salvatore complex. Update this area with current visitor information.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele
Noto (SR), Sicily
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Intimate and theatrical at once
Santa Chiara reveals its greatest surprise inside: the oval plan, columns, stucco and artworks transform a relatively intimate church into one of the most intense experiences of Noto Baroque.