2 April, 2016

Leaving Ragusa

Writing on the bus this morning leaving Ragusa. Today we are heading to an afternoon in Syracusa before reaching our final stop for three nights in Catania.

Ragusa was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1692. The old town, Ragusa Ibla, was rebuilt in the 18^th century Baroque style. In addition, the nobles built a new town further up the next hill – Ragusa Superiore. We stayed at the Di Stefano Palace Luxury Hotel which was once a noble residence.

The walking tour of Ragusa Ibla was very enjoyable. We started at our hotel, and descended through winding stairs to the base of the old town and the church of Purgatory. Many of the churches here were founded by the Knights of Malta, originally known as the Knights Hospitalier, and one of the knights is buried in this church. One of the two major orders of knights of the Crusades, as the name suggests, they built hospitals where they took towns back from the Muslims and restored Christianity. The other order – the Templars – build castles and strongholds along the way to the Holy Land.

The rebuilding of the town resulted in a very unified style throughout, as practically nothing survived the earthquake from the earlier medieval town. Leaving the simple straight lines and arches of the Neo-Classical, this period brings convex and concave shapes to the facades and balconies, as well as steps and breaks in the cornices of the arched portals.

The definite highlight of the day, and one of the most fun experiences of the this entire journey was a ride through Modica in a fleet of Fiat 500s. The cars are owned and driven by members of the Modican Fiat 500 club. We loaded three of us into each car and set off into the town. The route was designed to showcase the tiny twisting and steep ancient alleyways of the town. Powered by a 500 cc two cylinder engine in the rear, these little cars are surprisingly quick. Like the Austin Mini Cooper the small wheelbase makes them very nimble. Our driver in the red car said that he races time trials in it. His car is a 1963 model that he bought in 1997 and has completely restored. The paint was a beautiful rich red, almost burgundy, pearl finish that I thought was the most attractive of the fleet that came out for us that night.

We made stops at the Cathedral, an overlook of the town, and finally a shop next to the restaurant we had dinner to learn about the Modican Chocolate. Made with less cocao butter and prepared at a lower temperature than is typical, this chocolate – typically used in baking or added to hot water to make hot chocolate – has a rich and grainy taste and texture unlike any I have ever had.

Arrivederci!

30 March, 2016

Villa Romani di Casale

Leaving the agritourisme we headed to visit the amazingly well preserved ruins of a Roman Villa. Covering nearly 4000 square meters, this villa was buried in a landslide and the floor mosaics were preserved in time for over 1000 years.

This was a noble villa and is quite large. With a thorough array of rooms preserved, the floor mosaics clearly show the extent and power of the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean, as well as providing a glimpse into the life of the fifth and sixth century. I found it interesting, and also a nice touch, that the buildings constructed to protect the excavated villa are constructed to show what the building would have looked like historically.

The mosaics all illustrated scenes from the far reaches of the Empire, scenes from mythology, and depicted athletic games and hunting parties. I found it to be fascinating to see such remarkably well preserved Roman art. There were even some remnants of frescoes on the walls.

From the villa we went to another hilltop town for lunch before continuing to Ragusa Superiore, our home for the next three nights. This will be the subject of the next post.

Arrivederci!