In the heart of the southeastern tip of Sicily, Ragusa is an essential stop on a journey where every stone is steeped in art and history. The city’s origins are inextricably linked to the many peoples who have ruled it. Originally called Hybla Heraia, it was often the target of the Greeks who had already settled in Syracuse. Despite their efforts, Ragusa never became a Greek colony and soon ended up in the hands of the Romans. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the city and all of Sicily became a boundless battlefield, where Arabs, Normans, Swabians and Angevins, each with their own art and tradition, quickly succeeded each other. Among the events that have most marked the history and evolution of Ragusa, however, it is impossible to forget the earthquake of 1693: the violent force of this quake razed the entire city to the ground, taking with it almost the entire population. At the time of the reconstruction, the surviving classes decided to start separate reconstructions: the old nobility gave birth to Ibla, which today identifies the historical part, built according to the baroque model that dominates Val di Noto; the rest of the population, on the other hand, built Ragusa, not far away, giving it a decidedly modern style. The two settlements remained separate until the first half of the 1900s, when they were finally reunited under a single administration and a single name.
