Noto Cathedral

Noto Cathedral
Minor Basilica of St. Nicholas of Myra
Cathedral Exterior, 2008
Location	Noto, Sicily
Country	Italy
Denomination	Catholicism
Website	www.cattedralenoto.it
History
Authorising papal bull	1776
Architecture
Status	Cathedral
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Sicilian Baroque
Completed	1776
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of Noto

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.

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).