The Trip That Keeps Growing: 21-22 September 2023 Ragusa Blog

21-22 September 2023 Ragusa Blog

Ragusa, one of the most picturesque cities in Sicily, has two faces – Ragusa Superiore, located on top of a hill is the newer, more modern, busy city with well-ordered streets, while just below it on the hill is Ragusa Ibla, the old town, with its tangled web of narrow alleyways and streets, grey stone houses, baroque palaces and churches lining its squares, and a beautiful historic center. Unfortunately, Ragusa Ibla collapsed after the 1693 earthquake which destroyed just about all the other towns in this region. Ragusa Superiore was then built on the plateau above the ruins of Ibla. But the locals of Ibla did not want to leave their old town for the new, so they rebuilt Ibla on its original location and today it is one of Sicily’s best-preserved towns. Our hotel, the Hotel II Barcocco, is located in this part of Ragusa. In 1927, the two towns merged and became the provincial capital of the region.

The next morning we had a walking tour (with a lot of steps!) of Ragusa Ilba scheduled. However, after seeing the planned route that would take us by dozens of Baroque homes and up hills with many steps, Bill and I decided to meet the group when they arrived in the main square, which was just 2 blocks from the hotel. We used this time to walk around the area of the main square, visiting several churches along the way. This little town has 50 baroque churches!

Our first church, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene was very close to our hotel. It was built in 1274 on the ruins of an old fortress but has undergone several renovations since then. It is a small church, but the inside is beautiful and contains several valuable paintings and a statue of St. Maria Maddalena.

One of the Little Streets Leading to the Main Square

Inside the Church of St. Mary Magdalene

We then walked up to Duomo Piazza where we would unite again with our group. In addition to the Cathedral there are many noble palaces and outdoor cafes lining the square. We first visited the Church of San Giuseppe, located on one corner of the square next to the Town Hall. The church, financed by the Benedictine Order, was built in 1756 on the site of an earlier church that had been destroyed by the 1693 earthquake. On the outside façade are carvings and sculptures along with statues of St. Benedict and St. Mauro on the corners of the second tier of the church and statues of St. Gertrude and St. Scholastica on the bottom tier. The statues of St. Gregory the Great and St. Augustine adorn the sides of the main entrance. The church is topped with three belfies. Beneath the belfries is a large window with a “gelosie,” a grille that nuns used in a cloistered convent to see outside without being seen.

The inside of the church is elliptical so the cloistered nuns who were observing the mass from grated balconies above the main level could have a better view of the service. At the far end center of the nave is a large gold crown from which a beautiful tapestry edged in red velvet gracefully falls behind the altar. There is a large dome ceiling with a beautiful fresco depicting the glory of St. Joseph with St. Benedict. And the floor consists of white limestone slabs inlaid with both black and majolica tiles. There are five altars in the church, each decorated with colored glass giving a marble effect.

Church of San Giuseppe and Town Hall

Main Altar of Church of Sam Giuseppe

Ceiling of Church

Grated Balcony for the Nuns

Side Altar of the Church

Church of San Giuseppe

Bill and I then walked down a few of the streets surrounding the piazza to admire the baroque architecture of the buildings and homes. It was then time to relax and enjoy some gelato until the rest of the group arrived at the Duomo di Sa Giogio, the Cathedral of Ibla.

Courtyard Leading to a Home

Example of Baroque Architecture

Baroque Home

Street with Baroque Style Buildings

Symbol of Sicily Found on a Store's Entrance

Duomo di Sa Giorgio, the Cathedral of Ibla dominates the hill upon which Ragusa Ibla was built and is the heart of Ibla. This site was not the original location for the Church of San Giorgio, which was destroyed by the 1693 earthquake. The only part of the original church left standing is the Portal of San Giorgio, which was one of its entrances. That church was located about .4 of a mile from the present-day church on the eastern edge of Ragusa Ibla close to the Giardino Ibleo, a huge public garden located not far from our hotel.

After the earthquake, the local inhabitants wanted to rebuild the church. However, the building of Ragusa Superiore happened faster, and they built their Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista first in 1694 and it became the main Catholic church of Ragusa. Unhappy with this, the residents of Ibla commissioned the building of their church in 1738 and the façade was completed in 1775. The magnificent dome, patterned after the Pantheon in Paris, was not completed until 1820. In 1865, the municipality of Ragusa was divided into two towns – Ragusa Superiore with its Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (patron saint of Superiore) and Ragusa Ibla with its Cathedral of San Giorgio, dedicated to Saint George (patron saint of Ilba).

Facing the church, you first see the the wrought iron fence with a sculpture of St. George on hourseback and behind the church is a large flight of steps leading up to the church's entrance. The beautiful front façade consists of three levels of columns with a large staircase leading up to the entrance. Lining the outside edges of the staircase are statues of the 12 apostles. On the top of the top level are the statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, while on either side of the second level, between the bell tower, are the statues of Saint George and Saint James.

The inside of the church used a Latin cross plan that is divided into three naves by 10 stone pillars. In a niche on the right side of the entrance is a statue of Saint George slaying the dragon. There are two chapels located on the right side of the church’s interior – the Chapel of San Vito and the Chapel of San Basilio. On the left side of the church is the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception and the Chapel of the Holy Family. Most of the chapels are decorated with 18th century paintings, but one contains a large silver reliquary box that is brought out on St. Georges day and paraded through the town. Above the altar in the central nave, the dome rises with a double cap on two sets of columns.

Duomo of San Giorgio

Main Altar of Duomo of San Giorgio

One of the Side Chapels

Silver Reliquary Box

Fence with St. George on Horseback

After visiting the cathedral our group walked back down toward our hotel to the Giardino Ibleo where we had a rest enjoying the lovely shade of the garden. On the way back to our hotel, I took a short detour to see the Portal of San Giorgio.

House along a Narrow Street

Portal of San Giorgio

We then had a quick lunch at one of the cafes near the hotel and rested until 5 PM when we had another great highlight of our trip – a “hair-raising,” 1 hour drive down the small alleyways of Modica in a vintage Fiat 500. Modica is another of Sicily’s medieval towns built on the side of a mountain with a steeply stacked medieval center and a maze of winding narrow streets and lanes. And like Ragusa, it was also destroyed by the 1693 earthquake and was rebuilt with an upper and lower section in the baroque style.

What a thrilling adventure. While the ride was not very “hair raising,” it was unique. After meeting our driver, we climbed into the very small Fiat. First, I had to squeeze myself in the back seat (which really only had room for a small child) – I ended up sitting crosswise on the seat because there was no other place for my feet. It took two people to help me out of the car. Bill luckily got to sit in the front seat. We then drove along narrow streets up to the top of the hill Modica is built on. On the way, we had a photo stop at the Duomo of San Georgio, Modica’s Cathedral. At the top of the hill, we walked to a balcony that overlooked the town of Modica for some amazing views. We also visited a workshop of a man who carved limestone blocks and plaques. He uses his kitchen as his workshop. We also got a chance to see the engines of the cars, but this was of more interest to the men. The engines are located in the back of the car, while the front trunk has room for suitcases and the spare tire. Then the ride began. The alleys were very narrow and a tight fit, but all the cars were in a line so you really could not go very fast – but it was faster than I would have driven it.

Our Fiat 500 Car

View of Modica

Squeezed into the Back Seat

Duomo of San Georgio

View of Modica

Limestone Carvings

Kitchen Workshop

Fiat Engine

Our Fiat Driver

Visit to the Chocolate Shop

Following this adventure, we walked to a local restaurant for dinner, and a much-needed glass (or bottle) of wine. Along the way we stopped for a short visit to a chocolate store to learn about Modica’s famous chocolate and to sample some of their varieties (and of course buy). Modica Chocolate differs from other popular chocolates as it is made only from cocoa and sugar with no added fats (the only fat is the cocoa butter that is present in cocoa beans). These ingredients are then mixed in a cold-working process (it is never heated about 113 degrees Fahrenheit). As a result the sugar crystals are kept whole and all the beneficial properties of cocoa are kept intact. The chocolate can be dark and flavored with citrus fruits and spices.

We then drove back to our hotel to recover for our next adventure tomorrow.

Our next day was a visit to a farm in the Sicilian countryside. This part of Ragusa is not only one of the largest exporters of greenhouse produce in all of Europe, but also a primary source of milk, dairy and meat production. The farm we visited today uses techniques that promote a sustainable, environmentally friendly, farm-to-table style of farming.

Upon arrival, our host Salvatore invited us into his home for a Sicilian traditional welcome – coffee and Italian cookies (we even got to help make the cookies which were strips of sweet dough twisted, deep-fried, and then coated with confectioner’s sugar). He then told us about the history of his farmland, how he became involved in the agricultural business, his cultivation methods, and how his family’s life has changed since they left the city to take up farming. His son is in charge of produce farming and has made significant strides in the conservation of water that is so critical to the farming.

After this introduction we had a tour of his farm, seeing his fields and animals and learning more of how they work with nature -- and not against – to produce their quality harvests. Many times this means keeping their harvests small so they can continue to produce a quality product. In the barn we saw the pregnant cows and the newborn calves and their mothers – these animals are kept separate from the rest of the herd which were out in the fields during our visit.

In the greenhouses that the family uses to grow their produce his son explained their unique watering system. Pipes are place down each row of produce from which tubing runs from the pipes to the plants. These pipes and tubes are connected to a computer program that calculates how much water each plant needs and when that is reached (based on the increased weight of the plant), it shuts off the flow to the plant.

We then sat down to enjoy a traditional Sicilian farmhouse lunch with the family that began with an aperitif. Lunch consisted of fresh cheeses, pasta, wonderful meats, and some of their freshly grown vegetables. And of course, it wouldn’t be Italian if it did not included a variety of wines. . It was also his wife’s birthday, so we all sang Happy Birthday celebrated with a Crostata (fruit tart) and coffee for dessert.

Around 2 pm we reluctantly returned to our bus for the trip back to our hotel. It was a very worthwhile day spent learning about farm life in Sicily. And the food was so delicious and fresh.