Above: The ballroom of Palazzo di Nicolaci di Villadorata
Tuna fish, and evidently a lot of it. Riches earned in the lucrative fishing industry of the 17th-century enabled the upper-middle-class Nicolaci family to buy their way into nobility in Noto. After the 1693 earthquake wiped out the fortunes of much of Noto’s high society, Corradino Nicolaci purchased land and the accompanying title of Baron of Bonfala in 1701.
Corradino’s son, Baron Giacomo (1711-1760), supervised the 1720 design of a four-story palace with more than 90 rooms, which took 40 years to complete. While the ground floor was relegated to food storage and stables, the second-floor piano nobile was decorated lavishly for entertaining guests – a necessity later as another member of the family succeeded in acquiring the title of Prince of Villadorata in 1774.
Continue reading “Postcard from Noto, Sicily: Palazzi with regal airs”
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