The Italian government is set to step in to make sure a UNESCO site in Sicily is protected from drilling operations.

On August 28 a Sicilian court gave Texan oil company Panther Oil permission to drill for gas in the Val di Noto, a part of southern Sicily dotted with Baroque masterpieces.

Every third Sunday of May Noto, a baroque city in South-East Sicily, is quite literally covered in flower petals for the Infiorata di Noto. This event, which is increasingly gaining in popularity, has taken place since 1980.