Preface

Ragusa is the southernmost city in Sicily, located on a mountain near the point of the triangle, which is the shape of the island, 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. Ragusa, together with eight other cities in the nearby area, has been listed by UNESCO, an agency of the United Nations that works to protect cultural and natural treasures in 125 countries, as a World Heritage Site. Ragusa and the other eight towns were destroyed by an earthquake in 1693, so their reconstruction represents important innovations in seventeenth and eighteenth century urban planning. When Ragusa was rebuilt, the plan of the city was created with the “modern” technique of parallel north-south streets going up the mountain that are perpendicular to the streets going east-west. This is a contrast to the streets of the ancient section of the city, Ragusa Ibla, in which, to this day, the streets follow the contour of the land, and no two are parallel to each other. The earthquake spared the portal of the medieval church of San Giorgio, which still stands and is the symbol of the city. The new church, designed in the baroque style, was built on higher ground on top of a majestic staircase.