Church of San Francesco all'Immacolata in Noto
The Church of San Francesco d'Assisi all'Immacolata stands at the top of a monumental staircase and is one of the most impressive religious buildings in Noto.
It was built between 1704 and 1745 on the initiative of the Father Superior Filippo Tortora and designed by the architects Vincenzo Sinatra and Rosario Gagliardi.
In the façade, jutting out onto the imposing three-flight staircase, the portal stands out flanked by artistic Baroque columns and three niches, two on the sides and a smaller one. above the portal. An artistic marble statue of the Immaculate Conception of 1787 adorns the mezzanine floor in front of the convent attached to the church.
Of considerable value are the works kept inside the church from the now destroyed Franciscan church of ancient Noto: the Virgin with Child in painted wood, work of 1564 and the tombstone of a Franciscan father dating back to 1575.
Of particular interest are the three funeral monuments dating back to the 19th century dedicated respectively to the prince of Villadorata, Mariano Nicolaci and Lorenzo, to the marquis of Cannizzaro Giuseppe Trigona and his wife.
Next to the church is the former Franciscan convent, which represents an admirable architectural complex of the eighteenth-century Noto.
