After three days, which should have been enough to embrace her, letting yourself be guided by the love of discovery, Modica now opens up before you, like a new world. Natural and ancient, ancestral and wild. A stage on the journey that passes from stone to memory, descends into ancient caves and reemerges among the waves of the sea, where turtles return to lay their eggs. Even in the last two days of the journey, the beauty of Modica is never a bore. It still has new discoveries in store for you.

Like the thirteen kilometers of history carved into the rocks of Cava Ispica. Even if its true length should be measured in millennia. This canyon, among the most fascinating in southeastern Sicily, tells the story of the encounter between nature and civilization. We are in the Modica countryside, among ferns, cyclamen, wild olive trees, thyme, and calamint, and surrounded by caves: thousands of them, carved into the sides of the canyon like pages of an archaeological manuscript, already noted, drawn, and recounted in the notebooks and watercolors of Grand Tour travelers between the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

We begin at the Archaeological Area, with the immediate opening of the Larderia catacombs, the largest in Sicily after those of Syracuse: over 40 meters of burial niches, three tunnels, and a canopied tomb, evidence of an illustrious burial. We continue toward the Grotte Cadute, a six-level complex complete with silos, cisterns, and alcoves. From here, on the opposite side of the valley, lies Poggio Salnitro, with a late Roman necropolis and a rock-hewn church. They call it the Spezieria (Apothecary) because the holes dug into the floor resemble containers for potions and medicinal concoctions. A short detour in the Baravitalla area leads to the Grotta dei Santi (Grotto of the Saints), decorated with over thirty frescoes and Greek inscriptions, and the Tomb with False Pillars, the spectacular burial site of an important family. Further on, the mysterious Castle: five vertical levels of caves connected by trapdoors and tunnels, a 25-meter-high rock-cut building whose origins are unknown. Immediately after, the Convent: seven levels of caves dedicated to Saint Alexandra, remains of frescoes, and a spring, perhaps used for thermal baths. The trail continues into the gorge, amidst the song of buzzards and the intense scent of many endemic species (sage, wild thyme, and calamint), ferns and cyclamens, dwarf palms and wild olive trees, lemons, and mandarins. At the outlet of the canyon nature once again encounters history, revealing caves with blackened ovens and stables carved into the rock. The gorge, inhabited until the last century, finally opens upward: from a spur, you can take in the sea and Mount Etna in a single glance. And, with you, time itself seems to stand still.

And then, straddling the provinces of Syracuse and Ragusa, between the municipalities of Rosolini and Modica, you can visit another wonderful corner of nature: Cava dei Servi. It’s one of the most easily accessible places to experience a typical Iblei cava firsthand: what is called a “cava” here is actually a small canyon, carved into the rock by millennia of water erosion. Deep, steep gorges are a distinctive feature of the Ragusa landscape. You descend to Cava dei Servi via an easy trail. From there, you can choose to explore the hiking trails around the gorge or relax at the bottom of the canyon, admiring the potholes and basins formed by the Tellesimo, the watercourse that still flows through it today. Walking along the shaded paths of the Mediterranean forest, you’ll discover a rich vegetation: ilex and quercus oaks, and above all garrigue, Mediterranean scrub consisting of small, evergreen, low shrubs, including thyme, rosemary, broom, and an abundance of herbaceous species. The wildlife is equally astonishing: you can encounter hawks, buzzards, woodcocks, turtle doves, but also signs of foxes, porcupines, and wildcats. A small natural paradise nestled among the hills.