Churches - Scopri Modica

Churches

Visit the city of a hundred churches. The Cathedral of St. George, churches, convents and monasteries heritage of the Baroque period and overlooking spectacular staircases.

Modica is called the "city of a hundred churches", in relation to the high number of religious buildings which were built there, even including convents and monasteries. Despite the massive destruction caused by the earthquake, many of these buildings have maintained their original splendor, reflecting a season of very lively and bubbly Baroque.

Today, Modica is characterised by an uninterrupted succession of churches built in the local golden stone. A special feature that distinguishes them is that the churches generally don't overlook squares, rather they overlook imposing and spectacular flights of steps which are modeled on the slopes of the hills.

Suggested itinerary

If you want to follow an ideal route past the most important religious buildings, it's better to start from the lower part of the city, where you can admire the majestic domes and splendid churches such as the Church of Madonna delle Grazie which was never completed.

On Corso Umberto there is the Church of the Carmine, the former Carmelite Monastery, which was probably built around the fifteenth century, and the Church of Madonna del Rosario, which was built in 1361, together with the convent. Continuing along Corso Umberto you come to the Church of St. Mary of Bethlehem, near Piazza Principe di Napoli, which dates back to 400. Of great interest is the Church of St. Peter, which dates back to 1300, and was also rebuilt after the earthquake, as well as the Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso, identifiable by its distinctively curved front. The church, which has been recently restored, was annexed to the former Jesuit college.

Continuing on towards the train station and up the hill of the Idria, we find the sixteenthcentury Church of San Francesco, which stands next to a convent with a cloister. Going up to Modica Alta you can see one of the emblems of the Sicilian Baroque post-earthquake: the famous Cathedral of St. George, which stands at the top of a large and impressive flight of steps.

In Modica Alta there is also the Church of St. John, which is also placed at the top of a large flight of steps, bordered by twenty-six pillars that once supported a lot of statues. But to see the oldest and most characteristic one in Modica, you have travel out of the town, on the road which leads to Scicli. There is a small grove of pine and eucalyptus trees, and here stands the church of San Giacomo, built around the fourteenth century and still almost totally intact, with its simple but harmonious form.