What to see in Ispica, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, Palazzo Bruno di Belmonte and the archaeological area of Forza Park.
Tourist information
Town of Sicily in the province of Ragusa, Ispica is located a few kilometers from the sea, on a hill in the south-eastern part of the Hyblean plateau.
The inhabited area, once called Spaccaforno and destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, stood near the current city center, inside the Ispica quarry, at the foot of a rocky outcrop on which stood an ancient fortress, of which today only remains some remains.
The new town of Ispica, built after the earthquake, reflects the late Baroque canons, while of the ancient part of the medieval layout, only a few neighborhoods were rebuilt around the churches of Sant'Antonio and del Carmine, which remained standing even if damaged.
Ispica offers beautiful examples of late Baroque art, including the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore with the large arcade with 23 arches inspired by that of San Pietro in Rome, the Mother Church, dedicated to San Bartolomeo, which stands on the square below with a large and elegant double staircase, the Basilica of Santissima Annunziata, which houses a remarkable cycle of stuccoes, as well as the interesting complex of the Church and the former Convent of Carmine.
What see
In the city, in addition to the late Baroque style, it is possible to admire remarkable liberty-style architecture, including Palazzo Bruno di Belmonte and Palazzo Bruno.
Surrounded by a luxuriant Mediterranean scrub, between Ispica and Modica, Cava d'Ispica extends, a narrow valley that constitutes a naturalistic and archaeological area, very interesting for the presence of important testimonies represented by Sicilian and Byzantine necropolises, Christian catacombs, caves , rock oratories and caves inhabited until the nineteenth century.
In the southern part of this valley, near the city center, there is the archaeological area of the Forza Park where, through a ring route, it is possible to visit the ruins of the Palazzo Marchionale, the rocky churches, the caves intended for housing and stable, and a tunnel dug in the rock, called Cento stairs, which descends towards the bottom of the Quarry and the bank of the stream through over two hundred steps.
