Marina di Ragusa

Marina di Ragusa is on the south coast of Sicily, it has a large well run boating marina and is a popular place for people to leave their boats over the winter months.  We became familiar with this small town as we spent much of August there and then during the last few days of our 2013 sailing adventures as we readied the boat for the cold windy months ahead.  In winter there is a population of about 4,000, in the summer months it swells to 60,000 with shops and bars doing a lively business.

This beach is enjoyed by hundreds of sun worshippers in July and August.
Marina is in background

The 'lungomare' greatly enjoyed by visitors on summer evenings

It's a modern seaside town devoid of ugly apartment blocks and it has a beautiful long sandy beach which attracts hundreds of families during July and August.  There's a very smart lungomare, the seaside promenade, which attracts Italian families for the evening walk - passeggiata.

Moody B'Lou

Moody B'Lou stripped of sails and ready to be hoisted out of the water...

Are those straps strong enough?  Alan watches........

It's always sad to see the boat lifted out of the water.

The marina had a good bar where we enjoyed a late breakfast most mornings, we occasionally headed there in the evening too for our daily game of scrabble accompanied by a large 'bicchiere de vino rosso'.

 Sunset seen from the boat on our last nautical evening for 2013.

Final 2013 Sailing Trip

Ortigia (Siracusa) from the Boat

We spent most of August at the Marina di Ragusa avoiding the holiday crowds, once September arrived we were anxious to get away with plans to visit the Aeolian Islands (off the north coast of Sicily).  The trip started well with beautiful blue skies and light winds.  We sailed to the tip of Sicily and then up the west coast stopping at Marzamemi and Siracusa.

Gate into old town of Ortigia (Siracusa)

Duomo Square

Piazza Archimedes

View from the marina in Ortigia (Siracusa)

Our next stop was Siracusa, which is almost becoming a second home and it lived up to all our previous memories.  The market was just as lively and it was a pleasure to renew our acquaintance with the wonderful Duomo Square and the Piazza Archimedes.

TAORMINA

View of Taormina straddling hill

Taormina to the left and the foreground shows our anchorage

View from bus looking down on our anchorage

Another view from bus - pity about fencing but it doesn't obscure the dramatic scenery

From Siracusa we went north to Catania but more of that on the return journey.  Our final destination turned out to be at Taormina, probably the most famous resort on the island.  Taormina itself straddles some very high cliffs which stretch down to a beautiful bay – this is where we moored up for a few days.  It was no hardship with such beautiful surroundings, however we had hoped to get an opportunity to sail onto the Aeolians, this was not to be.   George Rizzi who looked after this part of the bay was able to give us accurate weather reports and there was just no opportunity for going further north – just very strong winds!  So we postponed our trip for 2014 but meanwhile felt very relaxed in Taormina Bay.  

Taormina town was swamped with tourists

Pedestrians thronged the main street 

View from amphitheatre showing Giardini and Naxos coastal resorts

Ancient Greek Amphitheatre in Taormina.  Concerts are staged here throughout
the Summer.  Mount Etna looms in the background

On a couple of days we awoke to see huge cruise ships – the masses that were churned out and then driven in coaches up to the town were mind boggling – it became an Anglo/American town very quickly – thankfully the rest of the time was blissfully quiet.

RIPOSTO

View of Mount Etna from Riposto Marina

Main Church overlooking town square in Riposto.  Doors were open and visitors invited
 to join in the Sung Mass

Numerous fish stalls along the sea front

Alan had a date with sail dismantlers so we snapped out of our revelry and headed in a southerly direction.   We stopped at Riposto, the marina is famous for being very expensive.  On our arrival we were told to wait while the marineros and office had their lunch break, we weren’t impressed with the service.  However the views of Mount Etna did make an impression, the peak was almost always enveloped in cloud or mists – it was a still magnificent sight.  We also liked the small unsophisticated town of Riposto, full of residents going about their daily business – numerous fish and fresh food stalls along the front, a good enoteca and fantastic church bells!  They seemed to chime every quarter of an hour and the two churches were not quite in sync.  As I passed the main church the doors were wide open and a sung mass was in progress – visitors were made to feel welcome, a change to the norm. 

CATANIA

Catania a few miles further south was the next port of call, it's the second largest city in Sicily.   and we had expected this town to be similar to Palermo as they are both very busy ports – however we were in for an agreeable surprise, no rubbish or grimy dilapidated buildings here. 

Square near Catania Harbour

House showing typical building materials 

Moody B'Lou somewhere amongst all the yachts

We moored right in the town docks, so plenty of activity with constant loading of freighters, a couple of large cruise ships and some humble fishing trawlers not to mention a few yachts. There was also an excellent bar on the quay serving great coffee - just right to set us up for a day of sightseeing.

The Duomo built in baroque style using grey lava rock.  It's dedicated to St Agatha

A glimpse into a courtyard

Another view of the Duomo

It was an easy and interesting walk into the centre of town.  Via Vittorio Emanuele II took us to the Duomo and main piazza, the roads were lined with baroque buildings built from the local building material of lava, Catania is essentially a grey city; it all looked magnificent with deep blue skies and a looming Mount Etna in the background.  


St Agatha is the patron saint of Catania and the Duomo is dedicated to her - The Cathedral of St Agatha.   As a young Christian girl she was tortured for refusing the advances of Quinitianus, a Roman Prefect - one of the punishments was the cutting off of her breasts, she eventually died in prison.

The town's mascot, the elephant dominates the Piazza del Duomo

The elephant on a pedestrian walkway

The Elephant is the mascot of Catania, in ancient times it was said that pigmy elephants lived in the area and chased evil spirits away from the city. 

The baroque style can be incredibly ornate, for example the adornment around the above window. 

The Trinacria, national flag of Sicily

To wind up our visit I took a photo of the Trinacria, it was officially declared the Sicilian national flag in January 2000 although it was first adopted after the successful Sicilian Vespers revolt way back in 1282.  The flag hows the head of Medusa with 3 wheat ears, the three legs allegedly represent the three points of the Island of Sicily.

SCICLI

Churches & Monasteries on the hillside overlooking St Bartholomews

Scicli is one of the eight towns in SE Sicily recognised by UNESCO for the splendour of Baroque architecture.  Like its neighbours Scicli was devastated by the earthquake of 1693 losing 3000 of its residents.  It is less well known than the towns of Noto, Ragusa Ibla and Modica which we had previously visited and it's also a lot quieter.

Ornate balcony

Scicli is just 16 K from where our boat is moored at Marina di Ragusa and made a great day trip, it has a dramatic setting located in a gorge which is overhung by churches and monasteries on high crags.

The elaborate Palazzo Beneventano

A scary gargoyle to ward off evil (P. Beneventano)

A football game outside the Church of St Bartolomew

Old Steps

We thoroughly enjoyed Scicli which has plenty of Baroque treasures but still retains the normality of a small working town.