Ragusa

Cascading in Baroque majesty down the valley sides of the Cava Santa Domenica in southern Sicily, the UNESCO-attested town of Ragusa sports a dual personality. Its old centre, Ibla Ragusa, clusters charmingly over the ruins of the former city that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1693. Here, sun-warmed piazzas and palazzos dotted with palm trees sit encompassed by a labyrinthine web of meandering alleyways, crowned by beautifully sculpted balconies. A walk down its cobblestone streets reveals the great Basilica di San Giorgio at its heart, and promenading locals at the manicured greens of Giardino Ibleo. It is also here that the town’s best restaurants can be discovered, touting earthy Sicilian dishes and even Michelin-starred creativity, while in October the Ibla Buskers festival sees these historic streets peppered with unusual artworks and performances to boot.

On the other side of town, modernism takes hold in Ragusa Superiore; the streets are wider, cleaner, more well to do, and the Cathedral di San Giovanni Battista holds centre stage here. Ragusa tour guides can help travellers pick out folksy farmers markets and roadways that wind down to the shiny Mediterranean beaches at Marina di Ragusa to the south.