Discovering Ragusa, Ragusa, Italy

While Scicli is fairly off the beaten path, Ragusa is a common popular feature on Sicilian itineraries. How can it not be?! Just look at this perspective of a quintessential Sicilian hilltop village.

What we see here is Ragusa Ibla – the historic and medieval in topography part of Ragusa. The view is from one of many vantage points on the slopes of Ragusa Superiore – the newer and bigger part of town.

Yes, I admit, it was hard to stop taking pictures of this view and no less hard to pick just a few examples for this post.

Both Ragusa Ibla and Ragusa Superiore are dotted with various examples of the Baroque architecture for which the town is inscribed on the WH list along with Noto, Scicli, and others.

The main post office in Ragusa Superiore, a typical example of the Mussolini-era architecture, provides a bit of a contrast.

If you ever clicked through the UNESCO insciption link, you may recognize the next close up as the title picture of the Val di Noto WH site.

The church of Santa Maria delle Scale holds an added distinction of combining styles in the interior. Unlike many other churches, it was not completely destroyed in the earthquake of 1693. Rebuilding still occurred on the site, resulting in a largely-Baroque nave sharing space with Gothic arches and vaults, and also some Romanesque features. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).