Archaeological itineraries of Sicily - Cava d'Ispica

The territory of the iblei is rich in valleys carved by the water, they are called quarries. One of the most famous is undoubtedly the Cava d'Ispica, crossed by the small stream Pernazzoni, extends for 13 km within the territories of Modica and Ispica. The northern sector, in the initial part of the quarry, in the districts Serrapero e Baravitalla is located in the territory of Modica and housed the ancient medieval town of Isbarha, going down the quarry narrows forming a bottleneck characterized by two rocky spurs that protrude from the plateaus above: the Clash (to the East) and the Poggio Saltpetre (West). Going down south, the quarry widens and two short lateral quarries converge in it: the "Mortella quarry" and the "Valley of the Barrier". Following a narrow and long rocky column called the "Force”Near Ispica and which formed the central part of the ancient late medieval town of Breaker abandoned after the earthquake of 1693. Walking through the quarry you will find traces of housing that cover various periods: the Early Bronze Age (XX-XV century BC), protohistoric period (X century BC), late Sicilian period (VII-VI century. BC), Greek (VI-III century BC), and gradually affecting the late Roman and Byzantine periods, ending almost to our days.

Given the vast size of the quarry, we have divided the tourist itinerary into three parts:

XNUMXst Itinerary: Contrada di Baravitalla and Cava d'Ispica Nord

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  1. Church of San Pancrati
  2. Prehistoric village of Baravitalla (Tomb with fake pillars)
  3. Cave of Saints
  4. Grotto of the Lady
  5. S. Nicola (or Grotto of the Madonna)
  6. Catacomb of the Larderia
  7. Grotto of S. Maria
  8. Hypogea of ​​the Camposanto
  9. Fallen Caves
  10. Cave of the Spezieria

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Cave of Saints 

36ardrory

Catacomb of the Larderia

II ° Itinerary: Rock settlements of Cava d'Ispica center

  1. Rock settlement of the Castle
  2. Rocky settlement of the Convent 
  3. Rock settlement of the Craperia 

convent

Rocky settlement of the Convent

III ° Itinerary: Cava d'Ispica Sud

Chiesaannunziata

Former church of the Annunciation

1 Park of the Force 

  • Marchionale Palace
  • One hundred scales
  • Church of SS. Annunziata
  • antiquarium

2 Santa Maria della Cava

3 Tannery cave

4 Caves of Lintana

5 Cave of S. Ilarione 

6 Catacombs of S. Marco

one hundred scales

One hundred scales

Ispica-Santa-Maria-della-Cava-2

Santa Maria della Cava

To make Cava d'Ispica and its monuments known, we have cataloged, georeferenced and described over 20 monuments. For a detailed description of the itineraries, the relative images and the interactive map, see the card inserted in the database of Sicilian Cultural Heritage.

Cava d'Ispica card

 

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