Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
G2
G1
F1
16
Il Barocco
G2
17
La Rusticana
H2
F3
19
Orfeo
A2
H2
F1
Sights & Activities
Cattedrale di San Giorgio
CATHEDRAL
(Piazza Duomo; 10am-12.30pm & 4-6.30pm)
At the top end of the sloping Piazza Duomo is the
town's pride and joy, the mid-18th century cathedral with its magnificent neoclassical
dome and stained-glass windows. It's set high above a grand staircase behind a palatial
iron gate (the entrance is up the stairs to the left of the church). One of Rosario Gagliardi's
finest accomplishments, its extravagant convex facade rises like a three-tiered wedding
cake, supported by gradually narrowing Corinthian columns and punctuated by jutting
cornices. The interior is not quite as sumptuous, although there are two paintings by Dario
Guerci and a statue of St George on horseback.
Ragusa Ibla
Ragusa Ibla is a joy to wander, its labyrinthine lanes weaving through rock-grey
palazzi
to
open onto beautiful, sun-drenched piazzas. It's easy to get lost but you can never go too
far wrong, and sooner or later you'll end up at
Piazza Duomo
, Ragusa's sublime central
square.
East of the piazza, Corso XXV Aprile leads down to a second eye-catching Gagliardi
topped by a cupola decorated with a fresco of the Gloria di San Benedetto (Glory of St
Benedict, 1793) by Sebastiano Lo Monaco. Further downhill, to the right of the entrance
of the Giardino Ibleo, you can see the Catalan Gothic portal of what was once the large
HISTORIC CENTRE
