Modica Alta Experience

The houses of Modica Alta seem to grow directly from the rock, and for centuries people here have brought their chairs to the doorstep while the air filled with the scent of bread. This itinerary leads you on tiptoe into the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista — whose cross, at 449 meters, marks the highest point in the city — and takes you along Via Pizzo, a medieval quarter turned open-air gallery, where murals and illustrations tell the story of cocoa's journey from Mesoamerica to here. The route ends at the Belvedere del Pizzo, the terrace from which Modica reveals itself as a stone amphitheater, a UNESCO World Heritage site of the Val di Noto. And it is precisely here that the two itineraries intertwine: just steps from the Belvedere, the city you have crossed prepares to be tasted. The second route takes you inside the CIOMOD workshop, where cocoa is still cold-processed, under 45 degrees, with a method Modica has preserved for centuries.