SIRACUSA

it rises on the south-eastern side of Sicily.

Today’s city is essentially divided into two nuclei:

the oldest on the island of Ortigia where you can admire Baroque buildings, on the mainland,

instead, the remains of the Greek city proper are found.

Founded by the Greeks of Corinth in 734 BC, Syracuse grew so rapidly that after only seventy years of life it created other colonies on the coast and in the interior of Sicily.

Ortigia

In Ortigia you can admire the evocative ruins of the temple of Apollo in Piazza Pancali.

The extreme end of Ortigia is occupied by the mighty Maniace castle, a splendid example of the architecture of the Swabian period, built by the will of Emperor Frederick II between 1232 and 1240, which takes its name from the Byzantine captain Giorgio Maniace who conquered Syracuse in 1038.

We continue with the Piazza del Duomo overlooked by the Baroque architecture of the Cathedral, the Archbishop’s Palace, the church of S. Lucia alla Badia, the Palazzo Beneventanto del Bosco and the Palazzo del Municipio.

The Baroque Dumo was erected on the same site as the temple of Athena which became a Christian basilica.

Continuing at the end of the square is the Aretusa spring which recalls the myth of the nymph Artemis.

The Greek city extends over the mainland and of great interest is a visit to the monumental park of Neapolis, an area that includes the Roman Amphitheater of the imperial age, and the Greek Theatre,

the greatest monument of theatrical architecture and scenic technique of Greek antiquity that has come down to us.

To the east of the theater extends the Latomia del Paradiso,

the first of the colossal quarries with a depth of 25-45 meters inside the latomie is the Ear of Dionysius,

an artificial cave named after the painter Caravaggio, who visited it in 1586,

for its characteristic shape that gradually narrows into an arc just like the inside of an ear.

Syracuse still offers the Grotta dei Cordari, the Latomia dell’Intagliatella with the Catacombs of San Giovanni and,

last but not least, the very interesting Paolo Orsi Regional Archaeological Museum.

An attraction of considerable importance is the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Lacrime which attracts thousands of faithful to Syracuse every year.