What is Ragusa known for?

Ragusa Ibla and Ragusa Superiore rebuilt separately after the 1693 earthquake, inscribed together on the UNESCO list of Val di Noto Baroque towns in 2002. Rosario Gagliardi's San Giorgio in Ibla, dome forty-three meters high on sixteen Corinthian columns, the canonical image of the Sicilian Baroque. Ragusa Ibla doubles as the fictional Vigàta in the Inspector Montalbano television series, broadcast on RAI since 1999.

Ragusa is a comune in the province of Ragusa, Sicily region of Italy, about 94 kilometers from Siracusa.

Sicily · Ragusa

Ragusa

Two cities in one on a Hyblean plateau at 502 meters, Ragusa Ibla and Ragusa Superiore split by a ravine after 1693, both UNESCO Baroque.

502m

Elevation

94 km / 58 mi

Nearest hub (Siracusa)

73,159

Population

Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Ragusa sits on a Hyblean plateau at 502 meters, sixty kilometers southwest of Siracusa, on a ridge cut by two deep ravines. The 1693 earthquake killed five thousand of its eleven thousand residents and erased the medieval town. What followed split Ragusa in two: one faction rebuilt on the old site and called it Ragusa Ibla, the other built a new orthogonal town on the higher ridge to the west and called it Ragusa Superiore. The Valle dei Ponti separates them, crossed by four bridges. Both halves were inscribed together in 2002 as part of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto. The Duomo di San Giorgio anchors Ibla, designed by Rosario Gagliardi in 1739 with a forty-three-meter dome and a three-tier convex façade. The Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista answers it from Superiore. The opening sequence of the Inspector Montalbano television series was shot on the Duomo steps; the series has run since 1999 and Ragusa Ibla doubles as the fictional Vigàta.

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Gallery

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Known for

Duomo di San Giorgio
Rosario Gagliardi's 1739-1775 cathedral in Ragusa Ibla, three-tier convex façade above a wide staircase, dome forty-three meters high on sixteen columns.
Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista
Eighteenth-century Baroque cathedral on the principal piazza of Ragusa Superiore, balancing San Giorgio in Ibla across the Valle dei Ponti.
Valle dei Ponti
Deep ravine separating Ragusa Ibla from Ragusa Superiore, crossed by four bridges including the eighteenth-century Ponte dei Cappuccini and the modern Ponte Nuovo.
Ragusa Ibla
Lower town rebuilt on the medieval site after 1693, sixty-something churches and palaces compressed onto a single rocky spur, the silhouette of the Montalbano television opening.
Giardino Ibleo
Public garden at the eastern tip of Ibla, terraced over the valley with three church ruins and panoramic views across the Hyblean foothills.
Palazzo Cosentini and the carved corbels
Eighteenth-century noble palace in Ibla with figural corbels of musicians and grotesques under the balconies, the local Baroque signature.

Signature product

Ragusano DOPDOP

Stretched-curd Sicilian cheese, ripened in parallelepiped blocks suspended by rope; an artisan tradition from the Hyblaean plateau.

See every town in our catalogue producing Ragusano DOP.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through November are the right months for the two halves of Ragusa. The Hyblean plateau holds the heat in July and August, often above thirty-five degrees, and the Ibla stairs empty between two and five every afternoon. The Ibla Buskers street festival arrives the first weekend of October and fills the lower town with musicians for three nights. The patronal feast of San Giorgio in late May brings the carriage of the saint up the staircases of Ibla. Winter is mild for Sicily, low fog in the Valle dei Ponti and shorter daylight on the limestone façades. The Bandiera Blu coast at Marina di Ragusa is open May through September, twenty-four kilometers south.