HISTORY OF RAGUSA:
The origins of Ragusa can be traced back to the 20th century BC, when the first settlements appeared in the area. In the first millennium BC, the city was besieged numerous times by the Greeks, and later, in the 5th century BC, by Falaride, the tyrant of Agrigento, but every time it remained unconquered. Read More [...]
Ragusa, along with Modica, surrendered without a fight to the Romans, and later came under Byzantine domination. The Byzantines fortified the city in the 8th century AD, building a large wall around it. After numerous attempts, the Arabs occupied Ragusa in 848, and the city remained under their domination for about two hundred years. In 1090, the Normans drove the Arabs out of Sicily, and starting with 1091, Ragusa was ruled by Geoffrey, the son of Roger I of Sicily.
On January 11, 1693, a devastating earthquake destroyed the ancient city of Ragusa, causing about 5,000 deaths. This determined the reconstruction of the entire city, mostly in Baroque style. A part of the population founded a new settlement named Ragusa Superiore (Upper Ragusa), while the ancient part of the city was called Ragusa Inferiore (Lower Ragusa), known today as Ragusa Ibla.
GEOGRAPHY OF RAGUSA:
Today, Ragusa is a city of about 74,000 inhabitants, capital of the province with the same name, located in the southern Sicily. The city, which extends over the southern part of the Iblei Mountains, is the southernmost provincial capital of Italy, the third Sicilian municipality by area and eleventh by altitude. Read More [...]
Ragusa is located 16 kilometers northwest of Modica, 43 kilometers west of Noto, 65 kilometers southwest of Syracuse, 90 kilometers southwest of Catania, 105 kilometers southwest of Acireale, 133 kilometers southeast of Agrigento, 140 kilometers southwest of Taormina, 200 kilometers southwest of Messina, and about 250 kilometers southeast of Palermo.
TRANSPORT TO RAGUSA:
The closest airport is the Vincenzo Bellini International Airport, located about 99 kilometers away, near Catania. To get to Ragusa directly from the airport, you can take one of the buses of Etna Trasporti. The trip takes almost two hours and a ticket costs 8.60€. Read More [...]
By train, you can get to Ragusa from Modica in about 20 minutes, from Noto in about 1 hour and a half, from Syracuse in about 2 hours and from Catania in almost 4 hours. A train ticket from Modica costs 2.00€, from Noto is 6.80€, from Syracuse 9.10€, and the cheapest ticket from Catania is 12.40€.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN RAGUSA:
The most important tourist attractions of Ragusa are concentrated in Ragusa Ibla, the historical center of the city. Read More [...]