Noto Cathedral

Coordinates: 36°53′29.76″N 15°4′15.53″E / 36.8916000°N 15.0709806°E / 36.8916000; 15.0709806

Noto Cathedral (Italian: Cattedrale di Noto; La Chiesa Madre di San Nicolò) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Noto in Sicily, Italy. Its construction, in the style of the Sicilian Baroque, began in the early 18th century and was completed in 1776. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, and has been the cathedral of the Diocese of Noto since the diocese's establishment in 1844.

The cathedral dome collapsed in 1996 as a result of unremedied structural weakening caused by an earthquake in 1990, to which injudicious building alterations in the 1950s may have contributed. It has since been rebuilt, and was reopened in 2007.

History

Construction of the Church of St Nicholas began in the early 18th century, as part of the general reconstruction in Sicily following the devastating earthquake of 1693.

The long interval between the beginning of the building, to designs by Rosario Gagliardi, and its completion in 1776 under the supervision of Bernardo Labisi, probably accounts for various peculiarities and inconsistencies of design, and the introduction of Neo-Classical elements. Moreover, the principal doorways are revivals of 15th-century architecture, based on the style of Vignola or Domenico Fontana. The large central window of the west front, with its "ears" and curvilinear tympanum borrows from the repertoire of Andrea Pozzo and resembles work elsewhere in Noto by Francesco Paolo Labisi (for example, the Chiesa del Carmine).

Noto

Noto (Sicilian: Notu; Latin: Netum) is a city and comune in the Province of Siracusa, Sicily, Italy. It is 32 kilometres (20 mi) southwest of the city of Siracusa at the foot of the Iblean Mountains and gives its name to the surrounding are,Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

The older town, Noto Antica, lies 8 kilometres (5 mi) directly north on Mount Alveria. It was ancient Netum, a city of Sicel origin, left to Hiero II by the Romans by the treaty of 263 BCE and mentioned by Cicero as a foederala citilas (Verr. v. 51, 133), and by Pliny as Latinae conditionis (Hist. Nat. iii. 8. 14). According to legend, Daedalus stopped here after his flight over the Ionian Sea, as well as Hercules, after his seventh task.

In the Roman era, it opposed praetor Verres. In 866 it was conquered by the Arabs, who elevated to a capital city of one of three districts of the island (the Val di Noto). In 1091, it became the last Muslim stronghold in Sicily to fall to the Christians. Later it was a rich Norman city.

Noto (disambiguation)

Noto may refer to:

Noto (train)

The Noto (能登) is a seasonal overnight express train service in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which runs between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kanazawa via the Shinetsu Main Line and Hokuriku Main Line. The journey takes approximately seven hours. The train was was operated as a regular daily service by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) until 13 March 2010, with operations transferred to JR East from this date.

Rolling stock

Trains are formed of 6-car 485 series electric multiple units (EMU) owned by JR East and based at Niigata depot. All seats are reserved.

Formation

The 6-car 485 series sets based at Niigata are formed as follows, with car 1 at the Ueno and Kanazawa end (trains reverse en route at Nagaoka).

Past rolling stock

From 1982 onward, services were formed of eight 14 series coaches, consisting of three B-type 3-level berth sleeping cars and five seating coaches. These services were hauled by a Tabata-based JNR Class EF62 electric locomotive between Ueno and Naoetsu, and by a Nagaoka-based JNR Class EF81 electric locomotive between Naoetsu and Kanazawa.