Since I’ve personally visited and experienced all the cultural marvels this wildly colorful island offers, I can absolutely say that they are all worth a visit if you find yourself in the area and want to explore just a tiny fraction of the island’s countless wonders. The area where the Rifugio is located is called the Valle Dei Miracoli, or Valley of the Miracles. Sicily is an extremely beautiful and peaceful region of pastoral valleys punctuated by the Iblei mountain range that gently winds down to the sea. Having been an important crossroads for the passage of the boats of the Carthaginians, Romans, and Greeks, this area also is home to numerous archaeological discoveries from different historical periods––from the Amphora Hills discovered on the seabed of the Mediterranean finds dating back to the Second World War like The “Sicilian Stonehenge”, which dates back to between 6000 and 3000 BC. It was found near one of the bunkers used by the armies during WWII. 

Some of the most beautiful Sicilian beaches are located nearby, just about twenty to thirty minutes by car, including the Plemmirio Nature Reserve, a wonderful corner of paradise, and one of the most beautiful protected marine areas in Italy. This stretch of coast boasts spectacular flora and fauna, characterized by rocky coves, small sandy beaches, limestone cliffs above a crystal clear sea. The waters are populated by many marine species, including tuna, dolphins, sharks, and even sperm whales. Must-see beaches include Fontane Bianche and Porto Palo di Capo Passero. If you find yourself in the Vendicari Nature Reserve, you cannot miss Portopalo di Capo Passero, a seaside village in the southernmost tip of Sicily, which acts as a watershed between the Ionian and the Mediterranean seas. 

A few kilometers from Noto, in the province of Syracuse, Marzamemi is another magical place, a dreamy, ethereal hamlet drenched in the sun that is close to the Rifugio and definitely worth a visit. This colorful seaside village is famous for fishing and for the processing of fish products. One of its famous products is the “bottarga” of bluefin tuna, handcrafted using ancient drying systems derived from the Arab-Phoenician culture. The fairytale village is characterized by yellow stone houses that outline two natural harbors. Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and fascinating villages in Sicily, it was remodeled over the years by the Prince of Villadorata, who had built the entire village around the tonnara, the bluefin tuna trappings––actual traps made up of a long series of nets, or tail, perpendicular to the coast. As the tuna approach the tail they instinctively turn and follow the nets in the direction of the body of the trap––which are no longer active. The fishermen of Marzamemi still sail in their colorful boats, while the main square and the streets of the town are filled with outdoor tables in the spring and summer and retain its authentic ancient Greek/Arab/Phoenician feel. 

“The place of the soul, the deep South of Italy, Magna Graecia.” 

––Gabriele Salvatores, Italian director who shot a few scenes of one of his movies in Marzamemi

I laghetti di Cavagrande 

The Cavagrande “little lakes” are part of the spectacular Natural Reserve of Cavagrande, which is adjacent to the Rifugio. The quarries are spectacular due to the flow of the waterways which highlight the morphology of the great canyon of Cava Grande del Cassibile. On the north side, it’s possible to observe a small agglomeration of cave dwellings commonly known as Grot ta Dei Briganti. On the south side, there is a complex system of houses carved into the rock, arranged side-by-side on six different parallel levels, connected to each other by a system of tunnels and tunnels called Dieri di Cavagrande. 

At the edge of the reserve, to the northeast, there are various ancient necropolises, in which rich grave goods and ceramic material have been found. Its peculiar decoration, called feathered or marbled, falls within the Ausonia culture present in the Aeolian Islands and in Eastern Sicily around 1000 BC. 

http://www.viviavola.it/Cavagrande.html 

Noto 

“Noto is one of the most beautifully built cities in Europe: this small remote location emerges in memory like Warzburg or Nymphenburg, as one of the most refined results of the age that produced Mozart and Tiepoloa.” 

––Douglas Sladen, English author and academic 

Noto is a town in the province of Syracuse, about 10 km from the Rifugio. Formerly located on Monte Alveria, but destroyed by the Val di Noto earthquake in 1693, it was rebuilt on another site in Baroque style. Capital of the Sicilian Baroque, it is together with Caltagirone, Militello in Val di Catania, Catania, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa, Scicli and Modica, among the Baroque cities of the Val di Noto which were declared in June 2002 World Heritage Sites and included in the UNESCO list of world heritage protection. The baroque style of Noto pervades the whole city and its elements are not isolated within an urban context characterized by different styles, but are connected to each other in order to create what has been called the “perfect baroque city”. Today, the city streets and the beautiful squares are connected by staircases and terraces; almost all the buildings are made of local limestone, giving them an impressively bright light color. 

“To visit it, palaces, churches, convents, theaters seems a unique monument, all built in the same yellow tuff, in the same Baroque, as Fichera says well, flamboyant, with a grandeur without pauses and a royalty without avarice.” 

––Ugo Ojetti, World War I journalist, writer, and art historian 

Noto also boasts amazing restaurants and the famous Caffe’ Sicilia owned by chef Corrado Assenza, and featured on Chef’s Table Pastry (Episode 2), where I have personally tasted the most amazing gelato of my life! The creativity here is in the flavor of both granitas and gelato, where you can try peach and basil granita as well as cinnamon-flavored almond gelato and the orange-flavored chocolate ice cream, as well as fluffy brioches filled with gelato and many other wonderful desserts. 

Check out: https://luggageandlife.com/breakfast-at-caffe-sicilia-in-noto-sicily/ Also: https://lifeandthyme.com/food/corrado-assenza-sweet-sicily/

Infiorata di Noto 

Forty years ago, artists from Noto and Genzano decided to paint with flowers. Beginning in 1980, and every year since, artists paint with flowers during the third weekend of May in Noto, known as the Stone Garden so named by the historian Cesare Brandi. 

In the heart of Noto’s historical center, Via Nicolaci is divided into 16,6-by-4 meter sectors that represent the canvas on which artists create their masterpieces. The theme varies from year to year, inspired by religion, mythology, art, or local folklore. The first day, the artists sketch layouts of their paintings with special chalks. Then the following day, they begin to cover the chalk designs with flowers specially grown for the event. The flower paintings are usually completed by early the following morning. Locals and tourists alike wait their turn to admire the intricate petal mosaics until late in the evening and continue on the next day until the wilted flowers are swept away. 

https://www.italyscapes.com/events/sicily/noto/annual-festivals/infiorata-di-noto-2020/ 

Eremo San Corrado fuori le Mura 

“The church of San Corrado Fuori le Mura is located 5 kilometers from the city center of Noto in the suggestive Valle dei Miracoli (or Valley of the Miracles), and is an eighteenth-century sanctuary built in the place where S. Corrado Confalonieri, patron of the city, lived, inside a cave still open today, in hermitage from 1322 to 1351. The church can be reached via a staircase that descends from the town of Noto, as well as through the quarry in which it was built. Located at the end of a long tree-lined avenue, it is in Baroque style and inside it houses a marble statue of the Saint to which it is dedicated, as well as a canvas of the Madonna and Child dated 1759 and an altarpiece by Sebastiano Conca depicting San Corrado dated 1759. Inside the religious structure there is also a small ex-voto museum. Here the votive objects are preserved and exhibited on the basis of topic: clothes, anatomical exvoto, gold and silver, paintings, sacred furnishings and relics of San Corrado and the Venerable hermit Pietro Gazzetti. Siracusa, and the Greek theatre performances 

“Syracuse is not only a city where you can live, but to live: no other city at the same time denies itself, conceals itself, becomes secretive and visionary; to be discovered” ––Leonardo Sciascia, Sicilian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician of the 20th Century 

Visiting Syracuse means taking a journey through history, discovering a millenary city that sees its origins in 734-733 BCE. Founded by the Corinthians, it has had a glorious past that still echoes throughout its streets. I was immediately smitten by the splendor of this ancient city, and I knew that it should become part of my life forever. Siracusa is just about half an hour from the Rifugio. A UNESCO city, it was the hometown of Archimedes and it has a glorious past as one of the most important cities of Magna Graecia (the “Great Greece”). Inside the Archaeological Park of the Neapolis, stands the 3rd century BCE Greek Theatre, where performances still take place under the summer stars. Beautiful productions in a magical setting are going to remain with me forever. I will never forget the surreal atmosphere of the performance that I attended in early summer 2019, Elena (Helen) by Euripides. The staging along with the special effects and the ancient and yet ethereal surroundings truly made it worth seeing.

Every summer, Greek plays are staged here, and in 2020 the schedule includes Iphigenia in Tauris and the Bacchae by Euripides, as well as The Clouds, a comedy by Aristophanes. 

Palazzolo Acreide 

Palazzolo Acreide is a town also located in the Sicilian hinterland, about half an hour by car from Noto, and while driving to it, you take in a very beautiful landscape with completely different views from those that can be admired along the coast not far away. 

Although little visited, the country is enchanting, with some of the most beautiful baroque churches in all of Sicily, so much having been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2002. The visit to Palazzolo Acreide can in fact be divided into two parts: the historic center, with Piazza del Popolo, the Church of San Sebastiano, the Mother Church and the Church of San Sebastiano, and the archaeological area, with the theater, and the latomie (quarries). The historic center then, in turn, is divided into two areas: Palazzolo Alta, with via Garibaldi, and Palazzolo Bassa, and between these two parts of the country there is a lively rivalry that dates back to the mists of time and which explodes on the occasion of two feasts of the patron saints, San Paolo and San Sebastiano, when huge celebrations are organized, with parades, traditional floats and incredible fireworks. 

The splendor of the churches of Palazzolo Acreide is actually connected to the terrible earthquake that devastated Eastern Sicily in 1693: the original medieval city was abandoned following the earthquake, and when the new Palazzolo was built, it took on the same flamboyant Baroque style as Noto.

The last but certainly not least reason to go to Palazzolo Acreide is the excavation area. The Akrai Archaeological Park testifies to the very ancient origin of the settlement, founded in 664 BC. from the Greeks. The Greek Theater, still in use today for some performances during the summer months, is certainly the symbol of the city, but don’t miss, if you can, the “Santoniâ”, or stone sculptures carved on the side of the mountain that are distant about 15 minutes from the archaeological area. 

Noto Antica 

Noto Antica (Ancient Noto) is the remains of the ancient city Noto, destroyed on 11 January 1693 by a massive earthquake. It was originally a center of considerable importance. Municipium under Roman rule, Capovalle from the Arab domination onwards and decorated with the title of ingenious civitas by Ferdinand the Catholic, Noto Antica was one of the mai military and economic cultural centers of south-eastern Sicily between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is now a sort of archaeological park with many ruins, but a map still shows where everything was located prior to the devastating earthquake. Because it was destroyed in the 17th century, when the Baroque style was prevalent, the new city of Noto was completely rebuilt in the Baroque style, as well as many other towns destroyed by the same earthquake in the area. Itâ’s another magical place to visit, a bit eerie, but definitely worth a visit especially if the fascination with archaeology is present !

Modica chocolate festival 

The city of Modica, an Unesco World Heritage City renowned for its baroque architecture, is also known worldwide for its very particular chocolate and is located about an hour away from the Rifugio. Every year the city organizes a three-day chocolate festival held in December, attended by thousands of people who travel to Modica (but chocolate can be tasted throughout the city all year long at a vast array of shops). 

Modica is built against the sides of a deep valley and is somewhat divided between the Lower City and the Higher City (Modica bassa and Modica alta). The whole area has exceptional churches and palaces. The institutional and administrative buildings are found at the lower end, the Corso, which was once a flowing river. Here, you can find exceptional palaces, houses of noble families, municipal offices, and all the museums of the city, including the Museum of Chocolate found at the Palace of Culture. 

Excerpted from: 

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/modica-beautiful-sicilian-chocolate-city.664701 

Radicepura Gardens and Festival 

What exactly is Radicepura? It’s 3,000 plant species gathered on an estate of just five hectares, a seed bank, a venue for conferences and private events, as well as a charming and multifunctional space at the heart of Sicily, between Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea. It’s the dream-come-true of Venerando Faro, who arrived in the 1960s and found the ideal place for his life-long passion for and international experience in floriculture to flourish into something more. Radicepura is a complex designed with facilities for convention tourism, but also as a destination of excellence for landscape designers, researchers, garden designers and anyone with a passion for gardens. Radicepura offers educational botanical tours to corporate conventions, guided walks through the park to the observation of the Mediterranean flora all done with style. Radicepura is located in Giarre, just about an hour and a half from the Rifugio. 

Excerpted from: 

https://www.radicepurafestival.com 

https://www.italianways.com/radicepura-a-dream-in-bloom/ 

Traditions 

I Pupi Siciliani, Sicilian marionettes and marionette plays are really interesting and fun to watch. I had always heard of the “pupi”, which in Sicilian means puppets. The marionette puppet theater of Sicily was one of the few traditions of puppetry from around the world that is recognized by UNESCO (along with the Japanese Ningyo Johruri Bunraku, Indonesian Wayang, and Cambodian Sbek Thom). The Opera dei Pupi may be enjoyed at many theaters throughout the island, mainly in Palermo, Catania, Ortigia (the ancient part of Siracusa), and Randazzo, to name a few. The puppeteers put their entire bodies into the performance, using their voices, their hands, and their feet to represent the timeless stories they tell and to manipulate the uniquely crafted marionettes. 

The theater of the Sicilian puppets is a nineteenth-century tradition. But the Sicilian “pupi” is a very old tradition, going back 2400 years ago with the Symposium of Xenophon (a depiction of Socrates, written by Xenophon, in conversation with his friends at a drinking party, perhaps inspired by a work of Plato of the same name and character) and is regarded by some scholars as a valuable re-creation of Socrates’ way of thinking. At that time, the puppets were called Neurospata, a Greek word that meant puppet. 

In the centuries that followed other traces of puppets were found, but it was only in 800 BC that their official birth is documented. However, some experts think that its origin could even be traced back to the Greek marionettists of the time of Socrates and Xenophon, since marionettes were known by then in Syracusa. During the Romantic period, the great poems of the literature of chivalry are rediscovered: plots woven of love, betrayal, spells and duels. The history of the Paladins of France became the bible of puppeteers. The puppets begin to be dressed with shining armor, and so appear the professional storytellers of the Carolingian cycle. 

The stories of Roland were handed down by oral tradition from master to apprentice. You cannot leave Palermo without going, once at least, to the Puppet Theatre Santa Rosalia, created by Mimmo Cuticchio in 1973 in the Olivella district, in front of the Massimo Theater. Later, in 1995, this Sicilian artist added a laboratory in which many artists created new puppets. From the manufacture of the armor to the painting, from the sculpture to the costumes and the creation of the wooden heads, this laboratory is a permanent exhibition of this form of arts and crafts. The Puppet Theatre displays the texts and programs of the shows, and provides a point of reference for students, tourists and citizens who want to understand a little more about the history of the puppet theatre before entering. At a time when many young people used to change jobs and the traditions did not seem to interest anyone, Cuticchio’s choice seemed to be rather anachronistic. Since then, however, the Sicilian artist has created a school of art and enriched the small theater with everything necessary––stage, proscenium, curtain, deposit for the painted backdrops on canvas (more than 100), scenarios and special effects including rain, fog, smoke and other spells, while the sound is created by a cylinder piano. The repertoire goes on tour all over the world––from the arrival of Angelica in Paris to Cagliostro, from the saga of the Paladins to the passion of Christ. In Palermo, the Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum houses the largest collection of Sicilian puppets. 

Excerpted from: 

https://experiencesicily.com/2016/11/17/sicilys-unesco-recognized-opera-dei-pupi/ https://www.dreamsicilyvillas.com/guide/sicily-festivals-traditions/the-sicilian-pupi/ 

Archaeological Wonders 

Selinunte 

Selinunte was founded at the end of the sixth century BC by Pammilos who came from Megara Hyblaea (not too far from Siracusa). It was the most western Greek colony of Sicily. A strategic alliance with Carthage first and then with Syracuse brought economic prosperity. However, the city was destined to be forgotten in a relatively short time. A series of repeated clashes with nearby Carthage brought about the siege of 409 BC, which is remembered as one of the bloodiest massacres of the ancient world. Together with a violent earthquake in the Middle Ages wiped Selinunte of the face of the earth, quite literally. With an area of 250 hectares and a path that extends on about 4 km through the monumental ruins of great beauty and charm, the archaeological park of Selinunte is the largest in Europe and includes the temples of the eastern hill, denoted as E, F and G, the latter intact, the area of Torre Manuzza, once the site of the town, and the acropolis still partly surrounded by walls with the ruins of five sacred buildings and of many other public buildings. 

Villa del Casale 

Piazza Armerina 

Do you know that bikinis (yes, bikinis!) were already in style during the Roman period? Well, if you don’t believe me, you just have to come to Piazza Armerina and visit the outstandingly preserved mosaics at the Villa del Casale to see for yourself. While visiting this archaeological wonder, Jon and I (with our two beloved dogs Piper and Peanut by our side) gave ourselves the time to soak in not only the exhibits at the Villa, but also Piazza Armerina, which is not an actual piazza (or square), but a beautiful medieval town, of great historical and artistic importance. 

Perched on a fortress, with Baroque and Norman style buildings, they say that there are more than a hundred churches in Piazza Armerina. But it’s not only the churches that stand out, so do several noble palaces. Although we went to the Piazza Armerina area mainly to visit the

Villa del Casale, we had the chance to briefly discover this beautiful town in the province of Enna, which is inland from Villa del Casale only 15 mins by car. 

Some say that the Late-Empire mosaics in Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina, Sicily prove that the Romans invented the bikini. Indeed, the tesserae portrays girls in athletic competitions, wearing two-piece suits. The luxurious, 4th-century Villa del Casale, which extends over approximately 3,500 square meters and was discovered only in 1950, is a treasure chest of mosaic art including realistic, mythological, and scenes that seem to defy experts who want to tie it into a single, overarching project. 

Archaeologist Andrea Carandini has commented, “The overall interpretation of the mosaic complex revolves around the victory of men over passions and brute force, thanks to music (Orpheus versus earthly beasts, Arion over the marine ones), shrewdness (Ulysses and Polyphemus, Eros and Pan), and strength (hunters and they prays, Jove and other giants, Bacchus and Lycurgus, Hercules and the Bistones, etc.). Thus, both athletics competitions and Hercules’ labors ultimately hint to the supremacy of virtus and felicitas over chaos and evil powers.” 

Obviously, Roman artists had in mind much more than girls in bikinis. Archaeologists undertook an important excavation project in the mid-18th Century, bringing to light 37,674 sq. ft. of mosaic flooring with figurative and geometric designs, along with wall mosaics, columns, statues, capitals and coins. The theme of the mosaics? They are essentially, in part, tributes to the homeowner himself, and they are done, one might add, with a certain profundity and eloquence. Moreover, much of the house exhibits a definite influence from North African art styles, leading diggers and academics to believe that some of the construction workers hailed from the African Continent.

In the mosaics, the viewer can detect varying styles and narrative cycles: one is dedicated to mythology and to Homeric poems, while another refers to nature and scenes from the Roman aristocracy’s quotidian life. Four distinct zones have been identified from the villa’s remains: the monumental entrance with courtyard in horseshoe form; the villa’s center, built around another courtyard garden; a large room with three apses (trichora), preceded by an oval peristyle lined by several large niches; and the thermal baths complex. 

Years-long restoration works centered around the mosaics and murals concluded in December 2012. Today, visitors will find many different sections of the villa open for observation: the spa complex; the portico, entryway courtyard and honorary arch; the Vestibule and central, peristyle courtyard; the servants’ quarters that include the Piccola Caccia room, the Grande Caccia corridor (spaces that contain small and large hunting scenes, respectively) and the Palestrite room; the northern main apartments with a mosaic of Ulysses and Polyphemus and the room of Amore and Psyche; the southern main apartments with a mosaic of the myth of Arion and the room of Eros and Pan; the Triclinium (formal Roman dining room) and portico; and the Basilica. 

Excerpted from: 

https://www.italia.it/en/travel-ideas/unesco-world-heritage-sites/piazza-armerina-the-vill-romana.html 

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/832/

Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) 

Agrigento 

Kolymbethra Gardens 

The valley of the temples of Agrigento tells an ancient history of more than two thousand years. The area of historical interest, characterized by the exceptional state of conservation, extends for more than 1300 hectares in the largest archaeological site in the world. Since 1997 the valley of the temples of Agrigento has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The ancient city of Akragas (today’s Agrigento) was immersed in an agricultural landscape of extraordinary beauty where centenary olive and almond trees stand out. It was one of the most important Greek colonies in Sicily, founded in 581 BC. by settlers from Gela, originating in the islands of Crete and Rhodes. The plateau that lent itself well to the construction of the town was naturally protected to the north by the Athenian cliff and the Colle di Girgenti and to the south by the long hill of temples, bordered on the sides by the Akgras and Hypsas rivers. 

In the fifth century BC Akragas experienced a phase of military expansion, particularly relevant at the time of the tyrant Terone (488-473 BC) and the victory over the Carthaginians. In this period the great temples were erected which testify to the importance and prosperity of the city. 

In 406 BC the siege of Agrigento by the Carthaginians, which lasted more than eight months, put an end to the city’s period of splendor by starting a long phase of decline. From 262 BC Akragas was subjected to Roman rule which for centuries made it an important center in the Sicilian area. Starting from the seventh century AD, the city faced a new phase of decline, and a period of progressive impoverishment. The consequent demographic decline reduced the urban center to the area of the Acropolis hill, and after more than a millennium, the population abandoned the urban area and the area of temples. 

In the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento it is possible to admire the remains of many Doric temples, some excellently conserved, and include three sanctuaries, a large concentration of necropolises, fortifications, hydraulic works and part of a Hellenistic Roman Quarter. Two Agoras, an Olympeion and a Bouleuterion (council room) can also be visited. And as recently as In 2016, the remains of a Greek theater were also found. But a visit to the Valley of the Temples isn’t complete without a trip to the Kolymbethra gardens. 

Excerpted from: 

https://www.sitiarcheologiciditalia.it/valle-dei-templi-di-agrigento/ 

Kolymbethra Gardens 

In Agrigento, the Kolymbethra Gardens is a shady corner of paradise where ancient olive trees thrive and where the scent of citrus floods the Valley of the Temples. A corner of the promised land and garden-par-excellence where nature merges with history, this small valley is a significant part of Akragas, the city founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC. 

Diodorus Siculus narrates that in 480 BC to supply water the tyrant Terone had a network of tunnels designed which ended at the foot of the city in a large tank called Kolymbethra, meaning “of the perimeter of seven stadia”. It was soon adapted and turned into a fish nursery which was frequented by swans and volatile, but above all transformed the arid Sicilian land into a thriving garden of Mediterranean plants. This true “place of delight” in the following centuries passed to the church which introduced citrus fruits, while during its heyday, during the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became one of the essential destinations of the Grand Tour. 

In the last decade of the twentieth century, due to the disappearance of the old farmers, the Kolymbethra fell into abandonment until the intervention of FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano, founded on the model of the National Trust), which brought it back to its former glory. Now the garden resonates as emotionally as the nearby Archaeological Park, a total delight for the five senses––from the scent of orange blossoms to the flavor of almonds, from the silver of the olive trees to the dampness of the earth, to the slight background noise of the water that flows constantly. Do not miss the new routes to visit the hypogea, very interesting from an archaeological, speleological and naturalistic point of view. 

Excerpted from: 

https://www.fondoambiente.it/luoghi/giardino-della-kolymbethra