Leveled by the catastrophic 1693 earthquake, the settlement historically known as Spaccaforno was entirely rebuilt on its current hilltop location. Renamed Ispica in 1935, this town of 15,122 residents now stands as a testament to Sicilian Baroque design. Architectural highlights include Vincenzo Sinatra’s Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore and the Annunziata Church.
Beyond its striking monuments, the area holds a surprising agricultural record: yielding 18,000 tons of organic carrots annually, it is southern Italy’s largest producer. The municipal boundaries stretch south to the Mediterranean, providing ten kilometers of sandy dunes. Just two kilometers offshore, the tiny Porri island dots the seascape.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patroness of a city reborn after the 1693 earthquake, Friday 16 July
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 77 km away
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📅 Every year, on 16 July
Ispica celebrates Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16 July; the church and convent complex, dating from 1534, was reduced to rubble by the 1693 earthquake, the same quake that razed the entire city, then called Spaccaforno, to the ground, forcing it to be reborn.
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo inside a golden cone-shaped crust: in Catania it is masculine and pointed, and the quarrel with Palermo over the name is serious.
Read more →Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Ispica, but an easy day trip away.
