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| The province of Ragusa Modica |
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 Copyright © 2000 Affinità Elettive |
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Modica (Zip Code 97015) is 151 Km.
distant from Agrigento, 156 Km. from Caltanissetta, 119 Km. from Catania, 160 Km. from
Enna, 215 Km. from Messina, 298 Km. from Palermo, 15 Km. from Ragusa, that is the province
it belongs to, 96 Km. from Siracusa, 324 Km. from Trapani.
Copyright © 2000 Affinità Elettive
The municipality has
51.807inhabitants, its surface measures 29.076 hectares and its population density counts
178 inhabitants per square kilometre. It rises along the coast on a hilly area, 296 metres
above the sea-level.
The Town Hall is located in piazza principe Napoli, tel. ++39 0932-759111
fax. ++39 0932-944704, toll free number 800013717 (only for italian residence). E-mail address is: info@comune.modica.net.
It is mainly an agricultural and craft town. The main cultivations are:
cereals, hothouse vegetables, olives, grapes, almonds. There are also sheep, cow, pig and
horse farms.
The original name of this little town is Motyka, dated back to
the 3rd century BC. The first evidence of a settlement goes back to the Bronze age. At
first against Rome, later it was a decuman town. Under the Arab domination in the 9th
century, it was a rich trade and agriculture centre. With the Normans it grew still
further and later, in the 12th century, it was entitled county town by Pietro I of
Aragona.
Copyright © 2000 Affinità Elettive
In 1693 the earthquake levelled the town, and later it was rebuilt in
the same location. Because of the many stream floods in the 19th century, water was
rationalized and in 1902 the river beds were covered.
Amongst the most important monuments we mention the church of S.Maria
in Betlem, famous for its Norman portal, the church of S. Maria del Gesù (15th century)
and the 18th century convent of the Padri Mercedari which house the Town Museum.
One of the most famous Modica's citizens is the poet Salvatore
Quasimodo, who received the Nobel prize for literature in 1959. |
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