Modica and Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Modica

   Modica was destroyed in 1693, rebuilt in a hurry, and the result is one of the most dramatic baroque towns in Europe. A great earthquake that January killed tens of thousands across south-eastern Sicily, and the towns of the Val di Noto rose again in a new style, with curved facades, carved balconies and grotesque stone faces looking down from the corners. UNESCO listed eight of them together in 2002, and Modica is one of the finest. It occupies two steep ridges and the gorge between them, and the houses climb up the sides in layers, so that a walk through the streets is mostly a matter of steps.

   Read the complete Modica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Modica is where the day begins. Next is Militello Val di Catania.

2. 2. Militello Val di Catania

   Militello in Val di Catania is a small town in the hills south-west of Catania, in eastern Sicily, surrounded by orange groves and olive trees, with Mount Etna visible on the horizon. Like many towns in this part of Sicily, it was devastated by the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed much of the south-east of the island, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Its churches and palaces are part of the UNESCO-listed Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, inscribed in 2002, together with Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Caltagirone and others.

   Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Militello Val di Catania comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta.

3. 3. Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta

   Syracuse is far more than the island of Ortygia. The mainland district of Neapolis holds the Greek theatre, carved into the hillside and still used for classical drama in early summer, and the Latomie, the huge quarries from which the Greeks cut their stone, now filled with citrus trees and overhung with cliffs. The most famous cavity is the Ear of Dionysius, a tall curved cave with remarkable acoustics, which Caravaggio is said to have named when he visited in 1608. The same painter's Burial of Saint Lucy hangs in Syracuse too, dark and physical, with two gravediggers in the foreground dwarfing the saint.

   Read the complete Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 155 km into the recorded legs you reach Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta. Next is back through Militello Val di Catania.

4. 4. back through Militello Val di Catania

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Militello Val di Catania, late in the day. Next is Modica.

5. 5. Modica

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Modica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Modica. That is the ride.