Santa Maria delle Scale occupies the point where the old upper town ends and the long stairway into Ibla begins. This is the place to stand and understand the topography of Ragusa — you can see both halves of the city from here, with the domes and towers of Ibla laid out below and the more ordered streets of Ragusa Superiore behind you.
The church itself is a mixture of surviving Gothic and Baroque elements; part of the original medieval building survived the 1693 earthquake and was incorporated into the rebuild. Inside, there is a notable 15th-century relief of the Dormition of the Virgin. But the view from the steps is the real reason to come.