Ragusa Ibla

After 1693 Ragusa split in two: half the town moved uphill to a new grid, and half rebuilt on the old spur below. That lower half is Ragusa Ibla, and it is the reason people drive the half hour across the plateau from Noto — a dense stack of ochre houses on a ridge, with the dome of San Giorgio rising out of the middle and gorges on both sides.

The view most people want is from the upper town, on the belvedere by Santa Maria delle Scale, where the whole of Ibla lies below with the dome centred. It faces roughly south-east, so it is lit in the morning and backlit in the afternoon.

Inside Ibla, San Giorgio stands at the top of its own staircase on a sloping square, and the lanes below it are narrow, stepped and quiet. The Giardino Ibleo at the far end is a public garden with a palm avenue and a terrace looking straight out over the valley — the easiest place here to work without an audience.

It is a serious walk: the town is built on a slope and the connecting stairs between upper and lower Ragusa run to several hundred steps. Drive down or take the bus if you would rather not arrive out of breath.