Ragusa

Ragusa, an old town in the south of Sicily, 31 miles WSW. of Syracuse, stands on the right bank of the Ragusa, 14 miles from the sea. In the cliffs below the walls and around the town ancient tombs have been excavated. A neighbouring grotto yields stones impregnated with petroleum. Ragusa is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient Hybla Hercæa. It consists of two communes—an upper, with 24,183 inhabitants, and a lower, with 6260.