Modica and Scicli

The name of the city derives from the archaic Sicilian term "Mùrika" which means "stone", indicating the rocky nature of the place on which the city was built; according to other sources, however, the name was given by the Phoenicians, who called it "Mùtika", a term that indicates a welcoming and protected place.

We will visit the Cathedral of San Giorgio and the Church of San Pietro. During the tour there will be a sweet break to taste the famous Modica chocolate.

Then we will reach Scicli and visit the town: the square, the Mother Church, via Mormino Penna, and then walk in front of the Town Hall (where in the homonym Fiction it is Montalbano’s police station) and Palazzo Beneventano.

Defined by many as a "nativity scene", Scicli was awarded for its historic center in 2002 as part of the UNESCO “World Heritage Site”.

Its historic center is an expression of the creative genius of the late Baroque age, the result of the eighteenth-century reconstruction following the destructive earthquake of 1693 that razed the entire city to the ground.

In his book "The cities of the world" the famous writer Elio Vittorini painted Scicli as, probably, the most beautiful city in the world.