Exploring Modica

Monday February 29 started out cloudy, but the sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  High of 20C.  Modica has been a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2002, and is one of the baroque towns in the area rebuilt by the Spanish after the 1693 earthquake.  We are staying in Modica Alta (Upper Modica).

View late morning from apartment (before the sun came up)

Walking up the stairs near our apartment

One of many churches in Modica

L'Attesa di Deianira

Another beautiful door

Narrow streets

We walked up a small number of stairs and found ourselves in front of the Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, a grand baroque church, at the top of a sweeping staircase.  It had clearly been restored and was very impressive, especially as the sun had come out.

Just alongside the church was a small Pizzeria with a wood burning stove.  We shared a small Pizza Rosso (with red sauce), with an excellent crust, that we inhaled before I could take a picture.

Ceramic outside of pizzeria

There was a small sculpture to the right of the church, in memory of Doctor Rizza-- a beloved Modica Doctor who died in 1961.

Alonso waving from the church

We climbed up a bit more and had a wonderful view of the town.  The large street, Corso Umberto I, which is in Modica Bassa (Lower Modica) covers up a river that used to run through the town.  The river caused major flood damage in 1902, after which it was dammed and the street built on top of it.

View of Corso Umberto I

Another locked door

We then stopped for a coffee at Caffe Blandini, in front of a hotel.  There was not much open on a Monday late morning, and we passed a number of restaurants that are still shut for the season.

Seating in front of Caffe Blandini

Alonso after his coffee

After our coffees, Alonso and I decided to head to Modica Bassa, as Vicky and David had already been there in an early morning walk.  We walked by Cheisa di San Giorgio, one of Sicily's extraordinary baroque churches.   It is located in Modica Alta at the top of a 250 step staircase that takes one down to Modica Basa.  We slowly descended (luckily the stairway is large and there are flat sections).

Chiesa di San Giorgio

At the bottom of the stairs was Corso Umberto I, filled with interesting buildings, bars, restaurants and stores, many selling Modica's famous chocolate.  We sat on a bench for a while in the sun, as many stores are closed from 2:00-4:30 for siesta.

Teatro Garibaldi

As we wandered along the street, we saw plaques referring to Inspector Montalbano.   Inspector Montalbano is the hero of Andrea Camilleri's books that have been made into a TV series, running since 1999.  The BBC has carried this series with subtitles for a number of years. Most of the filming is in southern Sicily, including Ragusa and sometimes Modica.  There was a big lead up to the start of a new series which began on February 29 on Italian TV.

Montalbano tour plaques

We stopped at one of the chocolate stores to sample and buy some bars.  The chocolate is very unique  and follows an old Aztec recipe in which the sugar is not allowed to melt, leading to a grainy texture.  There are many different flavours from pistachio (one of my favourites), to coffee, salt, orange, and vanilla.

One of many chocolate stores in town

We also passed another beautiful baroque church- Cattedrale di San Pietro, at the top of a stairway lined with life-sized statues of the apostles.

Cattedrale di San Pietro 

As we continued wandering we spotted a store selling coffee beans as well as chocolate.  Alonso bought some beans and a lovely hand-painted espresso cup and saucer with baroque details.

Alonso with his coffee beans

We then stopped at Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, Sicily's oldest chocolate factory.  Modica's chocolate is a legacy of the Spanish, who imported cocoa from their South American colonies.

Wonderful old chocolate store with lots of historical artifacts

Alonso admiring all the chocolate

Enjoying hot chocolate sample

In front of chocolate store

Walking up the hill to Modica Alta

We had dinner at the apartment.  Vicky made artichokes and a pasta with pancetta, tomatoes and green pepper.

Vicky with amazing artichoke

Cooked artichokes with garlic

Another wonderful dinner

Lights just going on at night in Modica

After dinner we settled in to watch the start of a new series of Inspector Montalbano.  Luckily David can let us know what is going on.  We know who committed one of the murders (there were two) but our Italian was not good enough to put together the whole picture.  Lots of fun!