VENDICARI NATURE RESERVE

The Vendicari Nature Reserve was created in 1984, but did not become operational until 1989. It consists of a narrow strip of marshy coastline covering 574ha and provides a rare, and now completely protected habitat for migratory species and a highly peculiar kind of sand-loving Mediterranean vegetation. The large stretch of swamp, a hostile environment in many ways because of high salinity levels, has evolved a very unusual ecosystem which continues to attract vast numbers of birds passing through the area on migration.

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CAVA GRANDE

19km north. An excursion to Cava Grande provides the opportunity of exploring a small and forgotten corner of the Iblei Mountain landscape, that karst range dominating the southeast part of Sicily. This itinerary off the beaten track will be of particular interest to nature-lovers. Turn off the road from Palazzolo Acreide to Noto for Avola; then take the secondary road signposted for Cava Grande. Leave the car at the viewpoint from where there is a magnificent view over the Cava Grande Gorge plunging down between impressively tall and sheer limestone cliffs.

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ISPICA CAVE

Situated between the towns of Ispica and Modica, this great fissure some 13km Iong, is stacked with abandoned troglodyte dwellings, small sanctuaries and necropolises. The earliest signs of human occupation in the area date from Neolithic times. The hollows studding the walls of the gorge are a natural phenomen in karst rock, they came subsequently to be modified and adapted by humans according to their requirements.

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SAMPIERI

Driving the coastal road Pozzallo-Marina di Ragusa, stands the lovely village of Sampieri, an administrative division of Scicli. It is an old fishing village, perhaps the most picturesque in the province’s shore, its stone houses jostled with one another, bordering a maze of narrow streets.

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POZZALLO

Is the only coastal city of the province. It nestles in a beautiful and much frequented bay.
The importance of Pozzallo goes back to the 14th century, when it was a strategic military and commercial outpost for the County of Modica. The Count had a harbor built there, the so-called caricatore, around which the Scaro, the earliest quarter, soon grew up. This is one the most picturesque sides in town, thanks to its narrow, cosy streets. The modern city has grown on a modern orthogonal urban grid.

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MODICA

“Modica. Noble, opulent and populated city, seat of the ancient and vast County”. This 18th century description by historian and clergyman Vito Amore elegantly summarizes the political, economical and cultural importance of this city whose history is rooted in remote ages and events. Historical sources maintain that a town called Motyca, hereabouts, was inhabited by prehistoric peoples, called Sikels, around the 7th century BC., at the time of the Greek Colonization of Sicily; the historian Mario Carrafa, in the 18th century, told of Greek coins discovered the area, bearing the inscription Motayon. Traces of a Roman settlement are clearer, it being perhaps a Roman Città Decumana (that is, liable for tax).

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RAGUSA

Ragusa is the province’s capital city, interesting for both its artistical and historical heritage. Set on a wide limestone hill between two deep valleys (the Cava San Leonardo and the Cava Santa Domenica), it is divided into two distinct areas: Ragusa Ibla (the lower side) and Ragusa (the upper side), separated by the so-called valle dei ponti (valley of the bridges), a deep valley that is crossed by four successive bridges, among which that known as dei cappuccini (of the Capuchins), dating from the 18th century, is especially renowned.

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SCICLI

Scicli is a most lovely city in the province of Ragusa, lying on a vast valley amidst rocky mountains, where the San Bartolomeo, the Santa Maria La Nuova and the Fiumara di Modica rivers join. Its 18th century look most resulted from the reconstruction that followed the terrible earthquake of 1693. Thanks to its elegant palazzi and churches, and its picturesque shape, it is famously known as the “Baroque Jewel”.

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