Sicily · Ragusa
Modica
A vertical Baroque city in the Hyblean Mountains, rebuilt from the 1693 earthquake and home to a chocolate recipe brought from Aztec Mexico.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Modica is on our list
It holds UNESCO, Bandiera Blu and Spighe Verdi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- By car
- 1 h 42 min from Catania
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 53,483
- J13°
- F15°
- M15°
- A18°
- M24°
- J30°
- J33°
- A32°
- S28°
- O23°
- N18°
- D15°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Modica sits on the southern flank of the Hyblean Mountains, threaded through two gorges that split the town into Modica Alta on the ridge and Modica Bassa in the valley below. The 1693 earthquake killed roughly three thousand people here and erased the medieval town. What stands today was built across the eighteenth century by a generation of architects, Rosario Gagliardi above all, who designed the Duomo di San Giorgio at the top of its 250-step staircase.
The Duomo di San Pietro answers it from the lower town. Both are part of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, listed by UNESCO in 2002. The other Modica export is older.
Cioccolato di Modica is still made by the cold-working method Spanish settlers learned from the Aztecs, the cocoa mass never melted past forty degrees, the sugar crystals left grainy. It is the only chocolate in Europe with a PGI mark.
How to get there
From Catania (CTA), about 1 h 40 min by car.
By car from the center of Palermo 4 h 2 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Siracusa? Modica is about 1 h 1 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Catania airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Duomo di San Giorgio
Rosario Gagliardi's Baroque cathedral in Modica Alta, three-tiered façade rising above a 250-step staircase, built between 1702 and 1738.
Duomo di San Pietro
Mother church of Modica Bassa, fourteenth-century foundation rebuilt in Baroque after the 1693 earthquake, twelve statues of the Apostles on the entrance stair.
Modica Alta and Modica Bassa
Two halves of the old town, upper ridge and lower valley, connected by stairways and the long Corso Umberto I that follows the former riverbed.
Castello dei Conti
Hilltop fortress of the Counts of Modica with the eighteenth-century clock tower that marks the city's skyline, partly rebuilt after seismic damage.
Cava d'Ispica
Limestone gorge with prehistoric rock-cut tombs and Byzantine cave dwellings, ten kilometers from the town along the Modica-Ispica road.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Fattoria delle TorriRistorante
Fattoria delle Torri carries two Gambero Rosso forks (81/100), plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Lorenzo RutaRistorante
Lorenzo Ruta holds two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Radici – L'Osteria di AccursioTrattoria
Two Gambero Rosso prawns for Radici – L'Osteria di Accursio, and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
1 more place the guides name in Modica
DabbannaRistorante
Dabbanna has a spot in the Michelin Guide to its name.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Signature dish
Cioccolato di ModicaSweet
Grainy chocolate worked cold so the sugar never melts, a method carried from the Aztecs through Spanish Sicily.
See every town in our catalogue with a dish of its own.
Living here
Could you live here?
Modica is a city.
- A city of 53,483 people: the services are here, not a drive away.
- A station of its own, so the rest of Italy is a train ride away.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 53,483, down 1.8% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €670 to €970 per m² to buy, €3.90 to €5.80 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Comiso airport (CIY), 48 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Palermo, 4 h 2 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Morocco, Tunisia and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 82 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium. There are 179 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 40% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Ragusa province ranks 82nd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Catania, 69 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 189 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Sicily spends about €1,820 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €524 a year for water, on the Sicily average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone C, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 15 to March 31, up to 10 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 2% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
CIOCCOLATO DI MODICA
Cold-worked chocolate kept under forty degrees, sugar crystals never dissolved, the only chocolate in Europe holding a PGI mark.
VAL DI NOTO UNESCO
One of eight late-Baroque towns rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake and inscribed together on the UNESCO list in 2002.
GAGLIARDI'S DUOMO
San Giorgio at the top of its 250-step staircase, Rosario Gagliardi's signature work and the postcard image of the upper town.
RAGUSANO
The commune lies inside the Ragusano DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Modica known for?
- Modica is a vertical Baroque city in the Hyblean Mountains, rebuilt from the 1693 earthquake and home to a chocolate recipe brought from Aztec Mexico.
- Where is Modica?
- Modica is a comune in the province of Ragusa, in Sicily, at 296 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Modica?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Comiso (CIY), about 48 min by car.
- Can you get to Modica without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Palermo to Modica?
- About 4 h 2 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Modica?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Modica?
- Ragusa, Monreale and Corleone.
- How many people live in Modica?
- 53,483 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Modica a good place to live?
- Modica is a city of 53,483 people, the kind of place Part 3 of our Where to Move in Italy series is about. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 296 m
- Population: 53,483
- Surface area: 292.37 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Modica appears in
- The 6 best hill towns with a serious restaurant in SicilySicilyhill townserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 7,926 residents
- The best cheese towns within two hours of CataniaNear Cataniawithin 2 hourscheese zone6 towns · smallest 3,988 residents · closest 68 min away
- The best hill towns with a World Heritage site in SicilySicilyhill townWorld Heritage7 towns · smallest 7,980 residents
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of SiracusaNear Siracusahill townwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 2,235 residents · closest 39 min away
- The 9 best towns with a World Heritage site that have a serious restaurant in SicilySicilyserious restaurantWorld Heritage9 towns · smallest 7,980 residents
Featured on
Modica appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Modica
What all six share with Modica: over 10,000 people
Ragusa
Province: Ragusa
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Monreale
Province: Palermo
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Corleone
Province: Palermo
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Noto
Province: Siracusa
both inland in Sicily · both have a railway station in the comune
Venaria Reale
Province: Torino
both hill towns · both have a railway station in the comune
Bra
Province: Cuneo
both hill towns · both have a railway station in the comune
The letter
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