Forms of dwelling, between limestone and water. From the settlement origins to the late-Baroque city. The case of the Asinaro river and the cities of Noto

he geomorphological configuration of the soil, in relation to climate, water systems and primary human needs, shapes the founding ideas that determine territorial structures and settlement forms. In the case of Noto, in south-eastern Sicily, the interaction between calcarenite plateaus, topography and the Asinaro river defines a long-term settlement matrix capable of traversing different historical phases. This paper proposes a morphological interpretation of Noto’s urban formation, understanding foundation as the establishment of a durable correspondence between construction and geography. Through a diachronic analysis articulated in three phases – the rupestrian archetype of Sette Grotte, the medieval city of Noto Antica on Monte Alveria, and the late-Baroque refoundation on the Meti hill after the 1693 earthquake – the research investigates the persistence of structural relations beyond material and formal discontinuities. The study is based on cartographic comparison between historical and contemporary sources and on a morphological reading of the territorial system. It argues that permanence does not coincide with the material continuity of forms, but with the persistence of a settlement principle rooted in the plateau–slope–valley sequence and in the relationship with the fluvial system. The case of Noto shows how urban form emerges from the long-term interaction between geography and collective practices of inhabitation.