Experience the best of Ragusa

Ragusa stands on a limestone plateau of the Hyblaean Mountains in south-eastern Sicily, cut by deep valleys, and is split into two parts: the modern upper town and Ragusa Ibla, the old quarter on a spur below. After an earthquake in 1693 flattened the area, Ibla was rebuilt in the Baroque style, and with other towns of the Val di Noto it is listed by UNESCO.

The Cathedral of San Giorgio, with its curved facade and dome, looks over a stepped square, and the Giardino Ibleo, a garden on the edge of the spur, gives views across the valley. Modica, known for its chocolate, and Scicli, a Baroque town that appears as the fictional Vigàta in the Inspector Montalbano television series, lie within a short drive. Castello di Donnafugata, a country castle with a stone maze in its park, stands among fields, and the beaches of Marina di Ragusa are on the coast.

Ragusano cheese, a stretched-curd cheese hung to age, scaccia, a rolled flatbread filled with tomato and cheese, fresh ricotta and Modica's grainy chocolate all come from the district, along with Cerasuolo di Vittoria wine. Summers are hot and dry, spring brings wildflowers to the stone-walled fields, and the autumn is the time of the olive harvest.