Itineraries

And `the ideal place for all surfers wave and windsurfing. The beautiful sea and the immense and beautiful area beaches annually attract large numbers of tourists. According to some historians, the constant presence of winds of this place, which in some periods of the year give rise to small cyclones, seems to have given rise to the mythological figure of the Furies.The islet is perpetually beaten by the waves, almost always in turmoil.

On the spot it grows little flora, but there abound seedlings of wild leek, capers and other shrubs typical of the Mediterranean. Harbored even curly, wild rabbits, as well as various species of gulls as albatrosses. From here go in the period of migration of waterfowl from North Africa to the Sicilian coast, and hiding behind the high sand dunes, you can observe their migration. The temperature is quite high in the summer (you can also exceed 37 degrees in the shade), and tends to fall during the winter, but rarely or almost never below 5 °.

Located between Noto and Marzamemi, it is unceasing destination for lovers of unspoiled nature, and offers its visitors a beach of rare beauty, surrounded by dunes and wild juniper bushes.Hundreds are the species of birds that choose it every year as a stop on the journey to their breeding grounds. And `one of the few places where you can still observe the typical Mediterranean in all its splendor.

There are numerous archaeological pearls that encloses. The history of the relationship between Vendicari and the man, in fact, has its roots in antiquity. From prehistoric, Greek and Roman age (Eloro, via Elorina, Hellenistic settlement), at the age Bizantina (Catacombe, Trigona), from the Arabs (the Citadel fortifications) to the Middle Ages (Sveva Tower) to the eighteenth century with the ruins of the Tonnara in activity until the second world war.

The city streets are interspersed with beautiful squares and imposing stairways that connect the terraces and slopes. The reconstruction unit produced a coherent urban fabric and rich architectural episodes. It was used the soft local stone, color between gold and pink, richly carved. The reconstruction took place under the unified leadership of the Duke of Camastra, which was known to the Spanish viceroy.

The baroque elements are not isolated within an urban context characterized by different styles, but are connected to each other so as to realize that the `perfect baroque city` has been defined. Netini commitment of architects to create great scenes in fully aware baroque perspective and not provincial, is well aware of the image a master like Michelangelo Antonioni, who in one scene of The Adventure, filmed in Noto, He does tell the protagonist, intent to admire the city from the bell tower terrace of the church of San Carlo al Corso: `But look at that fantasy, that movimento.Si worried the scenic EFFECTS. That extraordinary freedom!`

The town was founded in the late 1800s, around a nucleus made up of small houses of fishermen in Scalo herds area, but traces of human settlements in this area date back to many centuries before, as evidenced by the numerous archaeological finds both in the village or nearby.

The charm of Pachino undoubtedly lies in its unique geographical position. Real terrace overlooking the Mediterranean to Africa, enjoys a spectacular view from the island caratterrizzato same name, on which stands a Spanish fortress of great beauty, mixed beaches of lava rock, small houses of fishermen, the lighthouse.

Also known as `Maccari`s village`, it was used at the time of the Phoenicians and the Greeks, as a trading area.

This was enhanced in the Byzantine period (sixth century), as witnessed by the small basilicas now ruined; only one is almost intact, the basilica `Trigona`, temple with three apses and a dome cover. The temple was probably attached to an architectural ensemble built by Byzantine monks, so much so that in the vicinity there are five catacombs. At the top stands a picturesque rural block, where stands nearby a wall belonging to a greek temple, probably dedicated to Apollo Libystino (IV cent. BC).

The remains of the Roman residence, discovered in 1971, are located at the river Tellaro, under a seven-nineteenth-century farm. The main villa is built around a large peristyle. The section of the portico on the north side had a mosaic floor with festoons of laurel forming octagons and circles with the sides inflected including geometric and floral motifs and on it overlook other two areas that retain the figurative mosaics.

In the first of these environments mosaic retains a panel with the scene of the ransom of Hector`s body: Odysseus, Achilles and Diomedes, identified by inscriptions in greek, they are engaged in weighing the hero`s corpse. The mosaic floor of the second room has a hunting scene, with a banquet in the open air among the trees, and a female figure seen as the personification of Africa.The scenes of the second atmosphere are reminiscent of the hunting mosaics of the Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina, but with more stylized and two-dimensional figures, of uncertain proportions, which make the greatly different effect.

The river valley, surrounded by the typical Mediterranean vegetation, preserves prehistoric burial sites, Christian catacombs, rocky oratories, hermitages and monasteries residential units of various types. In the valley terminal in Ispica territory, near the city, there are many testimonies that prove the presence of man from prehistoric times until the 1693 earthquake.

According to archaeologist Biagio Pace Cava d`Ispica is one of the largest archaeological curiosities of Sicily for its picturesque appearance and the large number of excavations in the rocky walls of his long course from the plateau of Modica. The morphology of the quarry, in the shape of the throat, the rock type, position, course suited to the defense, the proximity of the sea, have helped to make this place one of the most ancient settlements in Sicily. Here albergarono Sicani, and the early Christians took refuge to escape the persecution. There are places of worship, cemeteries and settlements of prehistoric origins.

Ragusa Ibla is home to a wide array of Baroque architecture, including several stunning palaces and churches.

The Cathedral of San Giorgio started in 1738 by architect Rosario Gagliardi, in place of the temple destroyed by the 1693 earthquake, and of which is the only place in the city a Catalan-Gothic style portal can still be seen. The façade contains a flight of 250 steps and massive ornate columns, as well as statues of saints and decorated portals. The interior has a Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles ending in half-circular apses. It is topped by a large Neoclassical dome built in 1820.

On a narrow winding street connecting Ragusa Ibla with Ragusa Superiore lies the church of Santa Maria delle Scale ("Saint Mary of the Steps", built between the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries). This church is particularly interesting: badly damaged in the earthquake of 1693, half of this church was rebuilt in Baroque style, while the surviving half was kept in the original Gothic style (including the three Catalan-style portals in the right aisle). The last chapel of the latter has a Renaissance portal. The chapels are adorned with canvases by Sicilian painters of the 18th century.

- Church of the Souls of the Purgatory has a Baroque portal.
- Church of Santa Maria dell`Itria, built by the Knights of Malta in the seventeenth century, has a campanile with ceramics from Caltagirone and a canvas attributed to Mattia Preti.
- San Filippo Neri

The church of San Giorgio, designed by Rosario Gagliardi and built between 1739–1775, has a façade with tiers of juxtaposed columns. The Treasury contains silver items. Similar though smaller is the nearby church of St. Joseph, with an elliptic interior housing a seventeenth-century statue.

The church of Sant`Antonino is an example of Norman architecture, characterized by a Gothic portal, while the Church of Immacolata boasts a fine fourteenth-century portal.

San Giorgio Vecchio boasts a façade with a notable Gothic-Catalan portal, with a high lunette portraying St. George Killing the Dragon, and Aragonese eagles.

The Hyblean Garden offers a good view to the three churches of the Cappuccini Vecchi, St. James (fourteenth century) and San Domenico.

The Zacco Palace, a Baroque building, has Corinthian columns support balconies of wrought iron work, caryatids and grotesques.

Palazzolo Acreide is a town and comune in the Province of Syracuse. It is 43 kilometres (27 mi) from the city of Syracuse in the Hyblean Mountains.

The area around Palazzolo Acreide has been inhabited since ancient times. In the 10th-11th centuries B.C.E, the Siculi lived here in small villages. The town occupies the site of the ancient Akrai (Latin Acrae), founded by Syracuse around 664 BC. The city was important as it controlled the paths of communication between the towns on the southern coast of the island. According to Thucydides, the Syracusans defeated the Athenians here in 413 BC.

In the treaty between the Romans and Hiero II of Syracuse in 263 BC it was assigned to the latter. After the Roman conquest, it became a civitas stipendiaria, and was still prospering in the course of the early Christian age.

The old city was probably destroyed by the Arabs, in the first half of the 9th century. The new city was built around a Norman castle, which no longer exists. An earthquake in 1693 destroyed almost the entire city, which was slowly rebuilt in the following centuries.

The Ancient City lies on the hill above the modern town, the approach to it being defended by quarries, in which tombs of all periods have been discovered. The auditorium of the small theatre is well-preserved, though nothing of the stage remains. Nearby are the ruins of other buildings, which bear, without justification, the names Naumachia, Odeum (perhaps a bath establishment) and Palace of Hiero. The water supply was obtained by subterranean aqueducts. In the cliffs of the Monte Pineta to the south are other burial niches, and curious bas-reliefs called Santoni or Santicelli, carved in the 19th century by a peasant proprietor, which also appear to be related to funeral ceremonies. Also nearby is the necropolis of the Acrocoro della Torre, where many sarcophagi have been found. About 5 miles (8 km) north lies Buscemi, near which a sacred grotto has been discovered; and also a church cut into the rock and surrounded by a cemetery.