Insight Guides: Sicily by APA

Author:APA
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Europe, Italy, Sicily
Publisher: APA
Published: 2012-09-14T04:00:00+00:00

Fonte Diana, the Roman fountain in Cómiso.

Glyn Genin / APA

Ruled by the Aragonese Naselli dynasty from the 15th to the 18th centuries, Cómiso still has a feudal castle. The restored 14th-century Castello dei Naselli retains its original Gothic portal and octagonal tower, converted from a Byzantine baptistery. Although shattered by the 1693 earthquake, fragments of classical Cómiso survive: Piazza di Município contains Fonte Diana, a Roman fountain whose waters once gushed into the Roman baths now under the municipal offices.

In Piazza delle Erbe there is San Francesco, with the fine Antonello Gagini marble mausoleum and, just off the piazza, is the covered market (1871). Adding to the Baroque scenery is the vast domed Basilica dell'Annunziata and the slim-domed Santa Maria delle Grazie, a monastic chapel which offers the town's most gruesome sight: mummified bodies of monks and benefactors stacked in frightening poses.

Vittória 6 [map], further west, is a wealthy wine-producing centre on the slopes of the Iblean hills. While perfectly safe for visitors, this neat city remains wealthy rather than healthy – as under the surface the Mafia maintains a toehold. Giuseppe Fava, a Sicilian journalist murdered by the Mafia, once dismissed Vittória as “a city built by those without the time, money, imagination or background to make anywhere better”.

Even so, the elegant Piazza del Pòpolo contains the Baroque church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the monumental Teatro Comunale, a fine example of neoclassical architecture.

On Piazza Libertà is the Palazzo dei Principe (Sat 6–8pm, Sun 10am–noon, 5.30–8.30pm). Amid the bland modernity are bourgeois mansions with grand courtyards. From the city gardens are views across the fertile valley to the sea, with flowers and peaches supplementing the traditional crops of olive oil and wine. The illustrious wine producer Florio has an important base here.

South of Ragusa

Castello di Donnafugata 7 [map] (Tue, Thur, Sun 9am–1pm, 3–4.30pm, Wed, Fri, Sat 9am–1pm; charge) lies 20km (12 miles) southwest of Ragusa. Set in a carob and palm plantation, this modern Moorish pastiche feels authentically Sicilian. The castle dates from 1648 but was redesigned as a full-blown Ottocento fantasy by Corrado Arezzo, the baron of Donnafugata, in the 19th century, and remained in the family until the 1970s. Arezzo, a campaigner for Sicilian independence, created Donnafugata as his whimsical refuge from revolutionary politics.

The exterior is a Venetian palace transplanted by magic carpet to The Arabian Nights. The crenellated facade, inspired by an austere Arab desert fort, is softened by an arcaded Moorish balcony. Below the arched windows opens an amazing loggia in Venetian-Gothic style. The finest rooms include a picture gallery, billiards room, winter garden and a salon for conversation. The frescoed music room illustrates the noble pastimes of painting, bel canto and piano recitals.

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