We arrived in Ragusa on a Sunday afternoon at lunch time. The city was deserted not a soul to be seen anywhere, no cars, absolute quiet, very strange really.
Suddenly we turn a corner and a big crowd of children coming out of Church from their First Communion with parents etc. But that was it for people, nothing else, just a quiet sunny day in Ragusa. The city is 537 meters above sea level and the sea is only about 20 minutes away by car, it is a very steep ascension by car on a narrow road with numerous hair pin turns, you have to drive no more than 40 km per hour otherwise you are over the cliff. Once in Ragusa you discover that there is actually 2 towns with two enormous cathedrals.
Cathedral of St-John the Baptist in Ragusa, our hotel is in front of this church.
One is dedicated to St-John the Baptist in the newer part of Ragusa and across the narrow valley on the other hill is the other Cathedral to St-George in Ragusa Ibla. This is the old historic city destroyed by a massive earthquake in 1693 and rebuilt immediately more splendid than before. Ragusa Ibla is a city lined with Palaces to the great families, and of course the two cathedrals would probably fit in a large metropolis instead of a small town with pretension of imperial glory. It is a beautiful city, the baroque architecture and the steep geography makes of the people of Raguzza cliff dwellers with a fantastic panorama. For walking you need good shoes and be ready to go up and down steep streets and long staircases. It seems that staircases is sort of a feature of the town, the cathedral of St-George has no less than 250 steps on its grand front entrance.
The Cathedral of St-George (Patron Saint of Ragusa) in old Ragusa Ibla.
Arriving at lunch time we were hungry, we decided to look for a place to eat but everything was closed. So we walked for about 45 minutes admiring the panorama all along the way, you see Ragusa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We finally arrived at Don Serafino which is an award winning restaurant and is featured in Le Soste di Ulisse. The restaurant is located in a huge cave which use to be a horse stable. The décor of stark rock and white marble floor is startling. The tables and chairs are very modern, it is elegant and simple but also very refined. We did not choose this restaurant but since we were tired from the drive and very hungry we went for it.
Piazza del Duomo
It’s a high end restaurant but the food was wonderful,
absolutely delicious. I had rabbit meat on a bed of diced green and red peppers with a light Madeira sauce to start. Then I went for the ravioli with a light lemon sauce. The dessert was a granita of blood oranges, very Sicilian.
Via della Scala ( a long staircase street)
We then walked back up and down the old streets of Ragusa to our hotel for a well deserved nap.
But before we got to our hotel we crossed Piazza Repubblica and heard organ music in an otherwise totally quiet and deserted Piazza, the music was coming from the Church of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. We went in and were entertained by the organist who was practising. However the music he was playing was Circus music like Barnum and Bailey music, I thought this very odd and could not understand how it could be associated with a church service, but we did find out the next day.
A view of Holy Souls in Purgatory Church on Piazza Repubblica
You see Ragusa has a great tradition like so many Sicilian cities of the I Misteri, which is a strong link with Easter but also the cult of the Patron Saint of the City. In Antiquity, Greek Gods and Godesses protected the city when Christianity became the new religion patron saints replaced the old Gods. The Festivities remained the same just new names, that is all. In Ragusa May 28-29 are the Feast days of St-George and this involves great parties and the entire city will participate, fireworks, marching bands, great parades throughout the city, ordinary life stops for those 2 days and it all starts in the Cathedral Church building itself.
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