Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily)

Catastrophe became a creative act in south-eastern Sicily: after an earthquake levelled the region in 1693, its towns were rebuilt in one sustained burst of late Baroque exuberance. Noto, Modica, Ragusa, Catania and four sister towns raised honey-coloured cathedrals, curving facades and grinning stone balconies, experimenting freely with street plans as they rose. UNESCO inscribed the eight towns of the Val di Noto in 2002 as a collective masterpiece born from disaster.