“Talìa” in Sicilian dialect is uttered when you make an unexpected, happy discovery. It’s the perfect name for this unusual boutique hotel/bed and breakfast in the UNESCO protected town of Modica. Arriving by foot in a narrow street, I barely noticed the front door that opens into a secret garden.
Each of the ten rooms is unique and was once a stand alone house. They each open out either onto a patio or into the garden with views of the town.
At one end of the garden is the cozy reception area, which has both an ancient and a Star Wars feel to it.
In cool weather, breakfast is served there. Mine was a luscious combination of pomegranate seeds…
Yogurt, brioche and cappuccino.
In warm weather, breakfast is outside, overlooking the Baroque town that was largely frozen in time when an earthquake devastated the area in 1693.
Marco Giunta and Viviana Haddad, a married couple, who own the property, are both architects from Milan. They came to Modica on summer vacation in 2001 and returned six months later to buy a holiday house. They found one, then, another beside it, then, the garden, and so forth. Soon, they began renovations.
The houses are all in what was once the Jewish quarter in the top of the town that could only be reached on foot. Since then, a road has been built making it possible to park and walk easily to Casa Talìa.
For more information about Casa Talìa or travel in Sicily, contact Eleanor or check out Uncorked Travel Consulting.
