To reach Modica you cross the hills of the Hyblaean countryside. Between one prickly pear plant and another, you can spot dry stone walls. In 2018 they were added to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The art of dr...

The Cava di Ispica (Ispica Canyon) is a valley that extends between Modica and Ispica. It preserves and houses incredible treasures: prehistoric necropolises, Christian catacombs, places of worship, ancient monastic buildings and residential centres dating from prehistoric times until the earthquake...

These words were used by Gesualdo Bufalino to describe the city of Modica:  "... a town similar to a broken pomegranate. It was near the seaside but rural; one half was condensed on a rocky spur, the other half spread at its feet. There were many stairs between the two halves, like peacekeepers. An...

Telamons are mythological figures used in architecture as supports. In Greek culture, they held up the sky and were depicted standing or kneeling....

The aristocratic family's town house was used as a representative palace and would have demonstrated the family's wealth and social status. These immense and important palaces were built from the end of the 17th century, thanks to large sums of money from farming. The grand Sicilian lords were own...

The four splendid altars, two on one side and two on the other in four small chapels, were made of stone and decorated with painted glass using a special process to make them look like marble. To elevate and complete the four chapels, Tommaso Polluce was commissioned to paint three of the four spl...

A pilaster is an architectural element required to support a building's structure. It is a pillar inserted into a wall, where it protrudes a few centimetres....

A column is a vertical architectural element with a circular shape that supports the upper structure. A column is free standing when it is not inserted into the depth of the wall and its roundness emerges completely....

In 1775 the bell tower of the old church of San Tommaso Apostolo (St. Thomas the Apostle) was demolished. The clock was not thrown away or discarded, but preserved and can still be admired today on the façade of the Cathedral of San Giorgio (St. George) built by Gagliardi. ...

Bituminous rock or "Pietra Pece" is a limestone impregnated with bitumen, i.e. petroleum. The first evidence of pietra pece stone working in Ragusa dates back to Greek times. In fact, some sarcophagi were found in the southern outskirts of the town. Other ancient artefacts date from all ages such...