SIGHTS AND SCENTS OF SICILY

Soak up the sights and scents of southern Sicily on this full-day excursion from Ragusa. Your private guide and chauffeur will meet you at your accommodation and drive you to the stunningly beautiful town of Scicli. Indeed, 20th century Italian novelist Elio Vittorini proclaimed it to be “Perhaps, the most beautiful city in the world”. Its current charm, expression of the creative genius of the late Baroque era, is the result of a lavish 18th century reconstruction following a devastating earthquake that struck Sicily in 1693.

A cluster of cream coloured buildings huddles in a valley, surrounded by towering rocky slopes and overlooked by the abandoned Church of San Matteo. On the hillside, a series of cave-dwellings provide evidence that a civilization must have lived here in the Byzantine era and the Middle Ages. However, as your guide will explain, Scicli’s roots stretch way further back in time. Historians believe the town’s name derives from its founders, the ancient Sicels, one of the three main tribes that inhabited the region before the arrival of the Greek colonists in the 8th century BC.

While you wander through Scicli’s alleys, taking in the views of the dramatic landscapes, your guide will point out some of the town’s most striking features and regale you with fascinating tales of its past. Among the sights to admire on your tour are the Church of San Bartolomeo, housing Caravaggesque painter Mattia Preti’s Deposition, Via Francesco Mormina Penna, a beautifully preserved street lined with elegant buildings and churches, and the iconic Palazzo Beneventano, chiselled with grotesque faces and fancy decorative swirls.

After a leisurely stroll through town a 15-minute drive will bring you to a herb farm. Here, in this splendid natural setting, guests will relish Sicily’s authentic aromas while taking in views that stretch all the way to the cobalt-blue Mediterranean Sea. The estate has been successfully run for twenty years by a dedicated, hard-working family, driven by the ambition to keep alive the island’s traditional fragrances and flavours. Over 150 different varieties of medicinal, ornamental and culinary plants, including capers, sage, thyme, lavender, mint, santolina, helichrysum and rosemary, are lovingly and carefully cultivated in the garden and, as the owners set themselves new challenges, these will soon be joined by tropical plants and endemic Sicilian herbs which are today threatened with extinction.

A member of staff will greet you and lead you on an entertaining and informative visit to the farm’s scented pathways. Later, under a passion flower pergola, feast your senses on a delicious light lunch made with fresh ingredients and seasoned with the farm’s aromatic herbs.

The last stop on your tour will lead you to discover the wonders of Noto. Razed to the ground by the calamitous 17th century seism, the town was completely rebuilt. Sumptuous and swanky, Noto is a superb incarnation of Baroque planning and building principles and stands as an enduring reminder of man’s boundless inventiveness, prolific fantasy and heroic resilience in the face of the overwhelming forces of nature. Divided by parallel roads, oriented from the east to the west so as always to be irradiated by the sun’s rays, Noto’s historic centre is almost entirely built in limestone, a material that seemingly absorbs the golden beams reflecting a soft honey-hued glow.

We owe the city’s present appearance to the artistic inspiration of three visionary architects, Rosario Gagliardi, Vincenzo Sinatra and Paolo Labisi, who were entrusted with the task of designing a city that would mirror the Baroque ideals of astonishment and virtuosity. The result is a true urban masterpiece replete with eye-popping details: finely carved floral motifs embellish the facades of noble residences, masks peer down from corbels, chubby cherubs frolic along church walls, winged horses flutter beneath wrought iron balconies, fierce lions guard historic stone buildings. A Baroque safari is in full swing! Your guide will lead you on an unforgettable expedition through Noto’s sculpted jungle and make sure you do not miss its highlights: the Cathedral of San Nicolò, sitting proudly atop a monumental flight of steps, the Church of Santa Chiara with its elaborate stuccos and the richly ornamented balconies of Palazzo Nicolaci, an unequalled triumph of Baroque art in Noto.

Bask in Noto’s intoxicating charm as the town shimmers in the afternoon sunlight before returning to your accommodation in Ragusa.