Syracuse lies on the eastern coast of Sicily, in a charming setting with a picturesque harbour bounded by the Maddalena Peninsula, and the island of Ortygia, which is practically connected to the mainland.

Syracuse is a city of art and of great archaeological interest, and an outstanding tourist centre, bathing resort and centre commercial and industrial activities. The city, especially the part on the island of Ortygia, is marked by its clean, white buldings, the beauty of its Medieval and Baroque architecthre and the imposing presence of vestiges of its past. Its most typical crafts products include ceramics representing scenes of Sicilian life, wooden and leather articles and the typical objects made of papyrus, the feather in che cap of ingenious local craftmen. For those who want to go shopping, there is a daily market in Piazza Pancali wich offers all kind of clothin articles and food products.

HISTORY

Syracuse was founded by Corinthian settlers in 734 B.C. The first settlements were on the island of Ortygia, wich became the original core of a much vaster inhabited area. In classical time Syracuse was in fact made up five towns: Ortygia, Achradina, Tiche, Epipolae and Neapolis. The city grew rapidly in prosperity and military strenght, and soon became a magnetic centre of power for the entire Mediterranean basin, defeating the Carthaginians at Hymera (480 B.C.) with the help of Agrigentum. In 474 B.C. the Syracusans, under the command of Hiero, got the better of the Etruscans in the naval battle of Cumae, wich placed a limit on the territorial expansion on the latter people toward the south. In 413 B.C. in was the turn of the Athenians to pay the price of opposing the might of Syracuse. Defeated and deported to the Latomie, the great majority of the prisoners met a terrible end. At the time od Dionysius the defenses of the city were fortified; Syracuse wan on constant guard against attack by its eternal rival, Carthage.

After various vicissitudes, the city was taken by subterfuge during the Second Punic Wars by the Romans (212 B.C.), who thus broke down the strenuous defence of Syracusans. The latter had used, during the siege, the famous burning glasses invented by Archimedes, who met his death during the looting and violence that followed the Roman victory.

When the power of Rome declined, Syracuse suffered repeated attacks by Franks, Vandals and Goths. Occupied by the Arabs in 878, it lost the important administrative role it had played up to then. In the second half ot the eleventh century it was taken over by the Normans, who were followed by the Angevins and, after events of the Sicilian Vespers, the Aragonese, who brought back to the town its prestige an authority.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, Syracuse was handed over to the Kingdom of Savoy, and then to the Austrians and Bourbons. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the city was the scene of a popular revolt, harsly put down by the Bourbon government, the consequences of which made themselves felt right up to the time of the unification of Italy, when Syracuse became again part of homeland.

ISLAND OF ORTYGIA

This charming and picturesque islet projects into the natural harbour, dividing the Porto Grande from the Porto Piccolo. The heart of Syracuse and site of the first Sicel settlements later overlaid by Corinthian colonies, it has several time acted as a refuge and bastion for the people of the entire city. In a fine setting within a fascinating landscape stand exquisite examples of Norman, Swabian, Aragonese and Catalan architecture, all of which blend with the unusual town structure that bears the early traces of the Greek peoples who lived there.

Cathedral

The Cathedral of Syracuse rises on the highest point in the island and has a decidedly Baroque character in the eiighteen century facade attribuited to A. Palma. The facace overlooks a flight of steps up from the central Piazza del Duomo wich is surronded by other examples of Baroque architecture. The two-tiered facade is marked by powerful columns and covered in sculptures attributed to Marabiti.

On the site of the Cathedral there rose in ancient times the majestic and sumptuous Temple of Athena, a magnificent example of a Doric peripetal structure from the first half of the fifth century B.C. In the seventh century A.D. the temple was transformed into a Cristian basilica. Substantial vestiges of the temple can be seen in the fabric of the church, especially since the additions made in the Baroque age have been eliminated.

The interior has the characteristics of a basilica, and is divided into a nave and aisles, with a sixteenth century wooden ceiling in the nave. In the left apse is a fine Madonna of the Snow by Antonello Gagini. By the same artist is the St. Lucia in the left aisle. In the first chapel in the right aisle is a Norman baptismal font. In the second chapel is a statue of St. Lucia, a seventeenth century work by P. Riaro. The seventeenth century Chapel of the Sacrament in enhanced by a wrough-iron railing. The last chapel, that of Crucifix, used to be adorned by fifteenth and sixteenth century canvases, including the admirable painting of St. Zosimus attributed  to Antonello da Messina; but for safety reasons they have recently had to be removed.

Church of Santa Lucia alla Badia

This church stands on the southern side of the Piazza del Duomo and is marked by a tall and pleasing twotiered Baroque facade, the work of L. Caracciolo. To both sides of the portal are spiral columns supporting architectural features wich blend well with the decoration of the facade.

Church of San Martino

The present building is from the fourteenth century, but an Early Christian balisica (sixth century) stood previously on this site. The interior has an aisled nave defined by pilasters; there are two ancient Roman columns in the apse and a fifeenth century triptych in Gothic style.

Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli

This church was built in the late fifteenth century; in te facade is a fine marble portal in Renaissance style with the typical features of the art og the Gagini. The interior has preserved some Catalan Gothic features.

Church of the Collegio

This is a typically seventeenth century building of pure Baroque inspiration. It has an imposing facade which, however, was never completed, and the capacious interior is enhanced by a Baroque decor at ist best in the admirable eighteenth century altars.

Fountain of Diana

This modern fountain adorns the central Piazza Archimede, which is surronded by admirable buildings. The fountain is the work of Moschetti and represents in sculptural form the mythical story of Diana and the nymph Arethusa.

Porta Marina

This gate on the sea side is the most important remaining part of the Medieval city walls, built in the fourteenth century. Above the arch is a splndidly adorned niche in Catalan style.

Temple of Apollo

At the end of Piazza Pancali rise the imposing ruins of this temple bulding, which were freed during the thirties and forties from the medieval structures that covered them. This is considered to be the oldest of the peripteral Doric temples in Sicily (sixth century B.C.), and was previously erroneously assigned to the cult of Artemis. The most substantial vestiges are those of the base and two columns; other architectural features reveal the uses the building was put to over the centuries, when it was turned into a Byzantine church, an Arab mosque and, in the Norman period, a basilica.

Palazzo Bellomo

Originally a Swabian bulding (thirteenth century), this palace has Gothic characteristics and a fine portal on the ground  floor. It was rebuilt two centuries later in Catalan style; the sequence of the lancet windows on the top floor is from that period. Its rooms accomodate the Regional Gallery.

Regional Gallery

This interesting collection of scultures and paintings has recently been rearranged in the rooms of the Palazzo Bellomo. The ground floor concentrates on the different phases of sculpture in Sicily from the early Christian period to the sixteenth century.

In Room 1 works of the fifth to ninth centuries (Early Christian and Byzatntine sculpture) are exhibited.

Room 2 containts works from the Medieval period, between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries.

In Room 3 (Renaissance sculpture) we notice particularly the funerary monument of G. Cardinas, attributed to Antonello Gagini, the Madonna of the Goldfinch by Domenico Gagini and the tombstone of G. Sebastida.

Room 4 accomodates some eighteenth century carriages. From the Cortile della Palma we ascend to the first floor wher the Pictury Gallery is situated.

Room 5 displays panels of Byzantine inspiration and Italic os Slav origin (fifteenth-eighteenth centuries): we find also a Burial of St. Lucia by Caravaggio and a sixteenth century russian triptych of the Stroganov school, both outstanding.

The painting that stands out in Room 6 is the Annunciation by Antonello da Messina. There is also a St. Leonard believed to be by L. Veneziano, and a Madonna Enthroned with the Child and Saints by P. Serra.

Room 7 contains fifteenth to sixteenth century paintings; artists we should mention are Antonello da Palermo and Marco di Costanzo.

In room 8 we can see sexteenth century works.

Room 9 contains drawings by Filippo Paladino and paintings of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

In Rooms 10 to 12 are exhibited interesting objects of various kinds, church jewels and vestments, furniture, embroidery, ceramics and earthenware, engravings and an eighteenth century sculpture.

Palazzo Arcivescovile

The arichibshop's Palace was bulit by Andrea Vermexio in the first half of the seventeenth century over the remains of a bulding from the Medieval period. The elegant facade, however, is evidence of rebuilding in the late eighteenth century; the third tirer was added at that time.

Palazzo Senatorio

This Baroque bulding was designed by Giovanni Vermexio and built in the first half of the seventheenth century. At present used as City Hall, it is interesting from an archaeological point of view, since excavations have brought to light there vestiges of an ancient Ionican building of the sixth century B.C. identifiable as the Temple of Artemis.

Castello Maniace

A fortified construction of the Swabian age, this castle is square in plan with cylindrical towers at the angles. Of particular interest is the splendid ogival Gothic portal, flanked by niches on which stood at one time two bronze rams. The various alterations to the building over che centuries have considerably spoilt the original beauty of the castle, especially on the ground floor, where there is still an admirable hall with pillars supporting a cross vault.

Fountain of Arethusa

This very ancient fresh water spring pours from a cave near the sea, in a steeing made evocative by its lush vegetation and by memories associated with the works of Classical authors. Pindar and Virgil take up the tale told by Hybiscus in the sixth century B.C.; already at that time he ha mentioned this picturesque spring, which according to mythology is the incarnation of the story of Arethusa and Alphaeus and which has also become the symbol of the city.

Here's a great video by Alfred Zappalà  showing all the beauty of Syracuse.

Sat Group offers amazing excursions to Syracuse with departure from Taormina. Day trips by bus with a tour leader on board and local guide on the spot.

1. Visit the Archaeological Area of the fifth century. B.C. with the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre, the Altar of Hieron II and the Latomies of Paradise with the Ear of Dionysius.
2. Visit to the island of Ortigia, historical center, with the Temple of Apollo, the Cathedral, important baroque church built on an ancient temple, and the Fountain of Arethusa with the famous papyrus plant.
3. Free time to walk to the Grand Harbour with the “Foro Italico” and optional lunch in local restaurants. Entry fees are extra (free for EU citizens under 18 with a valid ID). We recommend suitable attire when visiting sacred sites.

The cost of the excursion is 55,00€ per adult and 28,00€ per children (Age 2 to 12).

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