Sicily: Noto Valley - Ragusa Ibla and Modica

13th August

We are approaching the part of Sicily I prefer... Noto Valley, the cradle of Baroque. This part of Sicily was destroyed by an earthquake in the late 17th century and rebuilt in accordance with the architectural principles of the late Baroque.
We are going to spend some days in Ragusa, to enjoy the sun and the beaches and we consider it the starting point of our daily trips to the towns nearby.
First of all, we visit Ragusa Ibla...
We go to the information point and we are given a clear explanation of the main things to visit and a map. 
Follow the direction for the centre and you will meet a lot of beautiful buildings that witness in influence of the Baroque.
Roads are very small and perched, it's very hot and very few people walk around....
The city rises on the old Sicilian settlement that was colonized by the Syracuse Greeks. You reach the main square of the town and you don't see the church San Giorgio on your back until you turn yourself and it's there, it stands there in its maiesty and grandeur, dominating on the square. It stands at the end of a stairway with a convex facade and a dome, that was added in a second time.
In the square in front, you should savor one of the best ice cream of Sicily. Where? At Gelati Divini you can taste the strangest flavours of the home made ice cream: pistache from Bronte, jasmine, carob and... wine!
The most beautiful aspects of the town are all the baroque buildings that you can find here and there, moreover this part of the town comprehends 42 churches.
You reach the eastern end of Ibla and you are welcomed in the Garden Ibleo, next to which there is the ancient portal of Saint George.
You can find a lot of shops where to buy typical products of the area too!

One of the most peculiar product of this part of Sicily is the carob, that can be used instead of cocoa. The culture of carob dates back to the age of the Greeks but it was intensified during the 18th century when it was exported, eaten by the poorest and used as a remedy.  The tree of carob has become one of the benchmark of this part of Sicily: the Hyblean landscape, in fact, is characterized by them, by rocks and dry well stones that together with the old masserias represent the asset of this region.

CAROB TAGLIATELLE
Ingredients
400g flour
100g carob flour
5 eggs
salt

For the sauce:
Tomatoes
Anchovies
Parsley
Pine nuts

First of all you have to prepare pasta: pour both the flours on the table, add the eggs and the salt and start mixing everything together. Make a ball with it and let it rest for half an hour. Then start working it, if you can do it with the rolling pin, otherwise with the machine.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce: put some olive oil in a pan withtwo pieces of garlic, add 5 or 6 anchovies, some parsley, the pine nuts and the tomatoes previously diced.

Let it cook for half an hour, put salt and pepper.

Finally cook pasta in boiling water for 10 minutes and serve it with the sauce...deliciuos!!!

  After lunch, we leave for Modica...where the chocolate has its best.

"Another reminder to take by the throat is the chocolate of Modica ... : a bitter chocolate of two flavours, vanilla and cinnamon - to be eaten in pieces or to melt in a cup: the incomparable taste, so that who tries it, seems to have reached the archetype, the absolute and that the most celebrated chocolate wherever produced, is just adultery, corruption..." La Contea di Modica, L. Sascia

Also in this case, to find out the most beautiful examples of Baroque, we need to play a treasure hunt....
First stop is: L'antica Dolceria Bonajuto, Corso Umberto I, 159 where you can taste all the forms of chocolate, whose preparation goes back to the the 16th century when the Conquerors discovered the New World and ... cocoa seeds. After their return, they handed down the secrets of its preparation that, here, are still preserved. 

The Dome of San Giorgio is considered one of the masterpiece and the symbol of the Sicilian Baroque with its tower, 62m high that reminds us of the Katholische Hofkirche in Dresda.
You can approach it from the lower part of the town and it seems to be a little hidden because of the long staircase that brings you to the top. 
Its shape, preceeded by the stairs reminds Trinità dei Monti in Rome. Don't stop in front of it but go in because the interior won't disappoint you. From here you have also a wonderful view of the town , whose configuration looks like a Nativity scene.

Places where to stay: 
RAGUSA
Locanda Don Serafino 4*, Via XI  Febbraio 15 - Ragusa Ibla;
L'apparthotel, Via Perrera A, 9 - Ragusa Ibla (that offers you solutions in other towns on the island).
If you want to be closer to the beach and live in an old masseria:
Residence Mastro Vanni, Via del Bagolaro, 1 - Ragusa 
B&B CAMEMI, S.P. 25 Ragusa- Marina di ragusa