On The Brink (Ragusa)

Member Name: michaelhudson

Product:	Ragusa
Date:	14/03/03 (236 review reads)
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At the heart of the land of olives and honey, the ancient city of Ragusa climbs up from two deep valleys, clinging to every available space on a narrow rock spur rising out of bare countryside. The old town, Ragusa Ibla, was destroyed utterly by the earthquake of 1693 and later rebuilt as a silent, weather-beaten Baroque monument to its medieval origins. Upper Ragusa, a few hundred metres to the west, is grand and planned and largely ugly, built on either side of the three bridges spanning the Santa Domenica quarry. The city is a provincial capital, though its streets could only barely be described as bustling during the late morning hours when the main streets throng with shoppers and tourists.

GETTING THERE

Though buses, and very infrequent trains, run to Palermo, the best approach to the city is from either Catania or Siracusa. From the latter, buses run via Palazzolo Acreide and Modica while trains hug the coastline through Avola, Noto and several other small towns hugging steep hillsides. The two hour journey costs five euros eighty-five cents and takes just over two hours , trundling through graffiti covered platforms and past distant cathedral domes and the shimmering Ionian Sea. After Modica, which like Noto is a small Baroque town worthy of an afternoon of anybody’s time, the train whirrs, winds and wheezes its way uphill. A few minutes past Europe’s highest bridge Ragusa Ibla suddenly appears like a magical kingdom rising on all sides of a steep hill in the middle of the valley, its narrow peak crowned by the majestic cathedral. Then it’s the final bend in the track and the high rise hell of the modern town, all concrete and washing lines.

MODERN RAGUSA

The station is small and unremarkable. A bar, a platform, a ticket office and a car park, and, of course, the ubiquitous coating of graffiti. Outside the station, city buses stop directly in front of the ugly memorial while AST and Etna coaches stop an
d pick-up just to the left, running to Siracusa, Palermo, Modica, Catania and Catania Airport. Tickets are available from the bar in the station.

Turn left out of the station and follow the main road along to the large Piazza Liberta. Continue striaght ahead and over the bridge into Via Roma, which stretches from the monolithic Meditteranean Palace Hotel to the end of town. The Archaeological Museum is directly below the hotel (signposted), while the city’s cathedral is located about 200 metres further up Via Roma at the junction with Corso Vittorio Veneto. Aside from these, there is little of interest in modern Ragusa – the small churches you can find on either side of Via Roma can be bettered in moct other Sicilian towns, though they are still interesting enough to warrant a closer look if you have time on your hands.

The cathedral, finished in 1774, stands on a wide terrace above a sparse piazza. A sombre door is flanked by tapered columns with a large bell tower on the left hand side ending in a cusp. Dedicated to St. John, the cathedral is surrounded by well-kept gardens, though everything was locked up for the duration of the day I spent in the city.

THE MUSEUM

Open from 9 till 1.30 and 4 to 7.30 every day except Sunday, Ragusa’s museum houses 6th century BC Greek finds from the coastal settlement at Kamabura and later Roman relics from the surrounding province. Admission is two euros, though the lack of English anywhere in the museum
means this isn’t quite as good a bargain as it could be.

Spread over a single room, the exhibits begin with prehistoric pottery, flints and rocks arranged in glass display cases. Accompanying text details the area of origin and the date unearthed.
Into Kamarina, where huge burial urns are arranged in a mock chamber beside painted jars with warriors on horseback and various animal decorations. Jars and cups abound, all in various shades of brown and de
corated with intricate figures. Statue fragments and some wonderful small sculptures are arranged in cracked, eroded rows. Though most are over one and a half thousand years old the original detail can still be discerned in the vast majority.

A large stonework shows a horse surrounded by flowing text, while plain pottery crowds into cases next to more ornate work and some stone guardian figures from nearby burial chambers. Hundreds of cups and jars stand in rows, with the occasional sculpted head poking out of wide handles and circular brims. Flat-topped vessels decorated with foliage and grazing animals loom over thousands of less remarkable pottery housed on the floor and behind the cases themselves.

Three large busts of Greek deities lead us to photos of excavation sites and multitudes of heads without bodies and torsoes without limbs behind more glass. Then it’s on to two large Roman floor mosaics, the first of which has smoothly eroded islands of nothingness between swirling floral patterns that spread out in every direction. Adjacent, and even better, the second mosaic features different varieties of birds arranged in three rows of five squares with symmetrical floral designs in between. Both are roughly three by six metres. A scale model of the building in which they were found stands nearby, its proximity to the encroaching waves is amazing.

A visit takes about 40 minutes.

RAGUSA IBLA

There are three ways to approach Ragusa Ibla. The less physically able should probably walk only as far as the bus stop outside the train station where Linea 3 will drop you off at the heart of the old town. Those who wish to see a little of modern Ragusa first can alternatively take the staircase that descends from the end of Via G.Battistuta Odierna (from the cathedral, walk along via G. Matteotti, which begins at the corner where the Banca Agricola Popolare is located, then turn right when you reach the intersection with vi
a G. Battistuta). If you want to walk to the old town directly from the station then simply cross Piazza del Popolo, continue down Via le Sicilia, passing the giant
Sma supermarket on the way, and take a left when you reach Via Risorgimento. Everything is signposted from there and the walk is at times breathtaking.

The town itself is best seen on foot, wandering aimlessly around corners that open to reveal Baroque buildings and ancient churches. The centre stretches from the cathedral to the Ibleo Gardens, running along Corso Aprile 25 and through Piazza Pola (where the buses drop off). The cathedral, Duomo San Giorgio, was finished in 1775 and designed by Rosario Gagliardi. The three-tiered facade is gorgeous and immediate, topped with a balconied belfry and rising from the elongated Piazza Duomo with its exquisite symmetrical line of palm trees. The ornate gates in front are crowned by an equestrian figure, opening to wide stairs leading to the huge main door. Silent and stunning, the building bends to the left to enable a simultaneous view of the facade and the dome from the opposite end of the piazza. Wander along via Duomo, to the right of the facade, for the tourist information office and a maze of narrow side streets all boasting perfect views of the dome above narrow balconies and the muffled sounds of TVs.

Walk up the stairs to the left and you can enter the building through the side door. The interior is full of huge oil paintings and wooden panels depicting scenes from the martyrdom of St. George. Divided into three naves by ten massive pillars, the cathedral took over fifty years to build. Twenty stained glass windows and the dome – neo-Classical in design, 43 metres high and inspired by the Pantheon in Paris – let in light, bathing statues, the sculpted altar and the pipe organ (3368 pipes!) in sunlight.

Back out on the starirs, continue up and to the right for views of the dome framed by rolling hills and dee
p blue skies. Then go back down and continue through Piazza Duomo and along Via Aprile 25 to Piazza Pola, where the rounded San Giuseppe is another Gagliardi masterpiece. Buses back to town stop here just after every hour, while the surrounding streets are full of bars, restaurants and ancient buildings. Via Aprile continues to the very edge of town, passing the plain Chiesa Santa Maria on its way to the grand Piazza G. Battista Odierna. Gates open to a palm tree lined path and the gardens surrounding the Convento dei Cappucini and Chiesa San Giacomo. Flowers, fir trees, a children’s playground and wide lawns lead to the very edge of the rock spur. Then it’s back along the deadly quiet streets, the only sound is of shoe leather on stone pavement.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The last train back to Siracusa leaves at 6.30pm.

Remember that bus and train schedules are severely cut back on Sundays.

Don’t be tempted to walk back to the station from Ragusa Ibla. I speak from personal experience on this one!

One day is enough to see all of the main sights. Ragusa is pleasant, but it’s not Palermo.

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