NOTO, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in Sicily, Italy, a suffragan of the archdiocese of Siracusa. Seven municipalities of the diocese are in the province of Ragusa and 4 in the province of Siracusa.
It has an area of 1,514 sq. km. and a population of 190,800 inhabitants, almost all Catholics; it has 53 parishes served by 115 diocesan priests and 64 religious priests; it has a major and a minor seminary; 14 male and 18 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 292).
It is the ancient Netum, which passed to the Romans under Gerone II; under Arab rule it became one of the centres of the three parts into which Sicily was then divided, under the name «Val di N.». The old city, situated between two deep ravines, was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693. The present city stands on the slope of a hill.
N. was the provincial capital from 1837 to 1865, in place of Siracusa. The diocese was created by Pope Gregorio XIII on 15 May 1844, by being separated from the archdiocese of Siracusa; its first bishop was Mgr. G. Menditto. From 1913 to 1936 its bishop was Mgr. Vizzini.
The Duomo is dedicated to s. Nicola da Bari. It preserves the remains of the Piacenza hermit s. Corrado Confalonieri. Notable are the church of the Most Holy Saviour and its convent, the churches of the Immaculate Conception, of S. Domenico with a Larocca façade, of Monte Vergine, etc. The Collegio church, formerly belonging to the Jesuits, is now a secondary school. The church of the Crucifix has, in its portal, two Romanesque lions originating from a church in the ancient N. Notable are the sanctuaries situated in the ravines near ancient N., namely the Hermitage of Our Lady of Providence and the hermitage of S. Corrado. Remains of a coenobium and two Byzantine apsidal basilicas have also been identified there, in the S. Marco district. Jewish hypogea and a small Byzantine cemetery were discovered near ancient N. (P. Orsi, in Notizie degli scavi... 1897, pp. 67-90). The patron of the city is s. Corrado, whose feast is celebrated on 19 Feb. and on the last Sunday of Aug. Enrico Josi