Scicli is a town and municipality in the Province of Ragusa in the south east of Sicily, southern Italy. It is from Ragusa, and from Palermo, and has a population of 27,051. Alongside seven other cities in the Val di Noto, it has been listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. The municipality borders with Modica and Ragusa.
History
Settlements of the area of Scicli dates back to the Copper and Early Bronze Ages. Scicli was founded by the Sicels around 300 BCE. In 864 CE, Scicli was conquered by the Arabs, as part of the Muslim conquest of Sicily. Under their rule it flourished as an agricultural and trade center. According to geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, "shipping reached Scicli in Sicily from Calabria, Africa, Malta and many other places." In 1091, it was conquered from the Arabs by the Normans, under Roger I of Hauteville, after a fierce battle. Scicli was one of the garrison which rebelled against the Angevine domination in the Sicilian Vespers. Following the various dynasties ruling the Kingdom of Sicily, it was an Aragonese-Spanish possession before being united in the Kingdom of Italy in the mid 19th century. Following a catastrophic earthquake in 1693, much of the town was rebuilt in the Sicilian baroque style, which today gives the town the elegant appearance which draws many tourists to visit it.
Main sights
San Matteo: this church was the localMother Church until 1874. It is located on the eponymous hill in the Old City, where there is also the ruin of an Arab/Norman castle.
The church of Santa Marìa la Nova, with a huge Neoclassicist façade. The interior houses a cypresse-wood statue of Madonna della Pietà, probably of Byzantine origin.
Sant'Ignazio, housing the highly venerated image of Madonna dei Milìci.
San Michele Arcangelo
Santa Maria la Nova
Palazzo Fava, one of the first and largest Baroque palaces in the town. Notable are the late-Baroque decorations of the portal and the balconies, especially the one on the Via San Bartolomeo.
The Town Hall, the Palazzo Spadaro and the Palazzo Beneventano, all boasting Baroque decorations.
Culture
Scicli is frequently used as a film set, most recently for Marco Bellocchio's Il regista dei matrimoni and is popular in Italy as the location of the police station of Il Commissario Montalbano, the popular television series broadcast by RAI. The town is also notable for its religious processions which includes "Presepe" enacted in the caves surrounding the city at Christmas time. These caves, known as the Chiarafura caves, were dug out in the tuff cliffs, and some were inhabited by the local poor as recently as 1958. At Easter, the town celebrates with the "Uomo Vivo" parade which involves a long religious procession through the city. A decorated horse parade takes place in March, from Scicli to the neighbouring town of Donnalucata. The most spectacular religious festival, the A Maronna i Milici occurs in May, commemorating the appearance of the Madonna on a white horse holding aloft a sword, described as "probably...the only armed Holy Virgin in the world." This encouraged the Christian Normans to defeat the Saracens in 1091. However, the story itself is believed to have been first promoted no earlier thanthe 15th century.
Economy
The economy of Scicli is mostly agricultural, and the area is renowned for its many greenhouses producing the primizie that are exported all over Italy.
Scicli has a railway station on the Canicattì-Gela-Ragusa-Syracuse line. Another station serves the frazione of Sampieri. The town will be served by the planned extension, to Ragusa and Gela, of the A18 motorway.
