9/29/24: The Fun Continues in Ragusa & Caltagirone!

The day after visiting the remarkable towns of Noto and Modica, Steven and I drove toward the Val di Noto's Ragusa, a modern city with a lovely historic core, a mere 21km northwest. However, navigating the narrow road with both cars and bikers driving way too fast and overtaking cyclists on dangerous curves was alarming.

Ragusa’s origins can be traced to the 2nd millennium BC when the Sicels established several settlements. The ancient tribe that populated the 1,000-foot hill came into contact with the nearby Greek colonies and developed the town thanks to the nearby port of Camerina. After a short Carthaginian rule, the Romans and the Byzantines fortified the city and built a large castle. The Arabs occupied Ragusa in 848 AD and remained until the 11th century when the Normans conquered it.

The 1693 earthquake killed half of the 10,000 inhabitants and also devastated the architecture. Following the catastrophe, public opinion was divided on where to rebuild. A compromise was struck with the population dividing itself into two new settlements: the upper city called Ragusa Superiore and the historic Ragusa Ibla on the ancient site. We concentrated our time on seeing the latter, which was perched on a hilltop between a deep ravine and a sloping valley. 

You would have loved seeing the car show that Sunday morning in the center of Ragusa, Naomi! Although we are not car buffs, we admired the locals' love of cars.

The rally took place in front of the Chiesa di San Vincenzo Ferreri, also known as the Chiesa di Madonna del Santissimo Rosario, located in Piazza Hodierna.

 Nearby was the 15th-century ancient door to San Giorgio.

Though the historic center was only slightly larger than one square kilometer, it was still home to an astonishing fourteen UNESCO World Heritage buildings! 

The stately Chiesa di San Giuseppe opened in 1790.

Beside it was the 20th-century Palazzo Communale or Town Hall.

The neoclassical-style1850 Circolo di Conversazione di Ragusa was purposely built by the city's aristocracy in order to have a special place for people to chat and spend time. One of the bas-reliefs featured two winged women holding a lamp. 

Another building of interest was the 17th-century Palazzo Castro.

Not three blocks away but up many steps from San Giuseppe was the Basilica di San Giorgio, designed by Rosario Gagliardi in 1738. It was another fine example of Sicilian Baroque architecture that we had just viewed in Noto and Modica.

It was unusual to see striking red wall coverings and valances throughout the cathedral.

High above the 9,000-pipe organ was a representation of Christ in an alcove astride a horse, carrying his sword and stomping on a dragon. 

The glorious view from the duomo:

The lazy way to get around Ragusa!

I overheard a tour guide say the design on the sewer cover represented Mussolini and fascism.

The 18th-century Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena:

We walked back to the edge of the old town and the deconsecrated church on the square, which was located at the entrance to the Giardini Ibleo. The garden, which had been closed when we arrived earlier, was a tranquil place away from the Sunday shoppers and other sightseers. It was lined with palm trees and dotted with the 18th-century Chiesa di San Giacomo and fountains along stone pathways.

The town's World War One Memorial occupied part of the garden.

We gave the more modern section of Upper Ragusa a miss because we wanted to move on to Calgirone located further north and also inland.

En route, Steven and I remarked that we hadn't seen such a profusion of low rock walls anywhere else in Sicily. 

Likewise, we had never encountered such immense stretches of plastic covering the vineyards.

One of the wineries we passed was Terre di Giurfo. 

Terraced farming possibly?

Views overlooking the idyllic landscape near Caltagirone:

It was evident immediately that Caltagirone was one of the main centers of Sicily's ceramics industry. Majolica decorations adorned the balustrades, domes, windowsills, and churches! It was no surprise that the town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site for its ceramics and numerous Baroque churches.

We'd looked forward to touring Caltagirone's Museo Regionale della Ceramica, located in a public park behind a theater. But we ended up wasting more than an hour wandering through the park that had no signage and getting bit by very hungry mosquitoes while looking for the museum. In the end, we found out it was closed!

We had to peek through plastic fencing to get a look at the gazebo.

Luck wasn't on our side as the basilica was also closed!

We didn't give up, though, and headed to Scala Santa Maria del Monte, the most impressive display of Caltagirone's ceramics. The monumental staircase to the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte had 142 spectacularly tiled individual steps.

Just imagine how phenomenal it would be to be in Caltagirone on either July 24th, the feast day of San Giacomo, the city's patron saint, or August 15th, the feast of the Assumption, when each step is illuminated with candles to form a tapestry design! Months of work go into assembling the 4,000 coppi, or cylinders of colored paper that hold oil lamps. I read that tourists are welcome to join the hundreds of youngsters lighting the lamps so the staircase is lit up all at once.

Next post: Piazza Armerina's ancient Roman mosaics.

Posted on January 8th, 2025, from my ailing brother's home in our hometown of Ottawa, Canada. Because of a massive winter storm that caused chaos for flyers throughout the country, it took an extra day to arrive. I was extremely lucky and appreciative that United Airlines put me up at a hotel in Washington, DC, and comped meals after four flights I had booked were canceled. Please take care of yourself and your loved ones - that's hitting home with me now, especially.