Mild weather, clear skies and generous blooms of jasmine and bougainvillea: autumn is the ideal season to visit Modica.

The city of Baroque and chocolate offers its best in September and October, and sometimes into late November: the temperature reaches 25 degrees and the vegetation puts on a show with the colours of still abundant blooms, the foliage and the fruits of prickly pears and pomegranates that frame the many hidden gardens within the stone city's alleyways.

1. The typical dry stone wall of Modican stone, topped with a splendid sun-yellow flowering against the backdrop of a glimpse of the clock tower.
2. The summer confusion is a distant memory, but the city is alive, with people strolling and filling Corso Umberto, both outside and inside its cafés, artisanal shops – where the famous Modica chocolate is made, following an Aztec recipe – and elegant shops and boutiques.
3. The cathedral of San Giorgio seen from the famous staircase covered in jasmine and bougainvillea.