Caption
About halfway along Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the graceful Piazza Municipio, flanked by Noto's most dramatic buildings. To the north, sitting in stately pomp at the head of Paolo Labisi's monumental staircase is the Basilica Cattedrale di San Nicoló. 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 façade, the composition of which is comparable to those of the church of Notre Dame, Versailles, and the pre-revolutionary church of Saint-Roch in Paris, was started in late 1767 (the nearby campanile bears the date 1768) to designs of about 1740 by Gagliardi.
Across the street, you can see Palazzo Ducezio, which features a partly convex facade, its graceful arches supported by Ionic-capital columns. Inspired by French palace architecture of the 17th century, Palazzo Ducezio is one of architect Vincenzo Sinatra's finest works.designed in the mid-18th century, the palace's lower-level building was only completed in 1830, it houses the jewel-box Sala degli Specchi (Hall of Mirrors), a richly stuccoed, Louis XV-style room once used as a small theatre. while the top floor was built in the first half of the 20th century offering a panoramic terrace with level views of Noto's cathedral.
Palazzo Ducezio It now houses Noto's town hall.