As if the beauty around Sicily isn’t enough to draw us to visit the little towns, the city of Modica is known for its chocolate and was definitely a stop that I’ve been dying to make!

Modica is a small town about 60 miles west of where we live. The town is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site along with 8 other towns in south east Sicily. The landscape is just beautiful! The castle and the abundance of churches around the town make this small town feel absolutely rich with power and history. The two churches we visited and the tens of others we walked by, all stopped us with their beauty. The Baroque style of architecture makes them unique from other churches seen around Europe. To get to them all though, you have climb a TON of stairs. The girls were such troopers climbing up and down them all to get to the various sites! 

Like much of the rest of Sicily, Modica was at one point ruled by a variety of other countries. During the ruling of Spain, the Sicilians learned their unique way of cold-pressing cocoa, where the cocoa and sugar don’t fully melt together, creating this crunchy, granular type of chocolate. They add in local natural sweeteners like orange, almond or pistachio. The girls did not care for it… which was unfortunate because there are chocolate tasting shops all throughout the town. Since they weren’t fans, we didn’t bother stopping at any others, even though Pat and I could have eaten and drank our way through the town. 

The Cathedral of San Giorgio (pictured on the left below) was at the top of the hill along with over 250 steps out front. The Cathedral was originally built in the 1500s, but after an earthquake devastated much of Modica, it was rebuilt and completed in the 1800s.

There was a wedding happening inside the Cathedral of San Pietro, so we were not able to go inside, but this church had a beautiful statues of the 12 apostles along the stairway entering gave it such a grand and beautiful presence unlike other churches we’ve seen in Europe.

Getting to the Castle in Modica we had to climb more stairs. And more stairs. The girls were worn out. But we made it to the top for the spectacula view of the city around us. The castle itself was used for the Counts of Sicily, and at other times a prison. It was smaller and a little less jaw-dropping than some of the other castles we’ve seen, but it was still a real life castle with a beautiful view. 

Us at the top. 

This month we are sending out postcards from Modica, along with a gift box of chocolates, olive oil and souvenirs to one Penpal from this adorable little town. Because of the holiday, and the Italian holidays, we sent them out on December 31st! Tag us on Instagram when you receive them or let us know! 

Thank you so much for being our PenPal and following us through this crazy journey!