Sights in Syracuse
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Basilica di San Giovanni
According to Roman law, Christians were not allowed to bury their dead within the city limits (which during the Roman occupation did not extend beyond Ortygia). Forced to go elsewhere, Christians conducted their burials in the outlying district of Tyche and its underground aqueducts, unused since Greek times. New tunnels were carved out and the result was a labyrinthine network of burial chambers, most of which are inaccessible except the ones underneath the Basilica di San Giovanni.
The church itself is pretty, with its skeletal rose window open to the sun. In the 17th century it served as the city's cathedral and is dedicated to the city's first bishop, St Marcian, who …
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Latomia del Paradiso
Enter the Latomia del Paradiso, a limestone quarry full of huge hollows and caves, planted with orange and olive trees, via the northern site. In Greek times the quarry was vaulted by a 'roof' of earth that collapsed in the 1693 earthquake, leaving it open to the sunlight. It was only after this that the gardens were planted.
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Teatro Greco
For the classicist, the highlight of the Neapolis is the lustrous white Teatro Greco, hewn out of the rocky hillside. A masterpiece of classical architecture, the ancient theatre could seat 16,000 people and saw the work of Sophocles, Euripides and the last tragedies of Aeschylus, including The Persians, Prometheus Bound and Prometheus Unbound, which were first performed here in his presence.
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Fontana Aretusa
Just south of Piazza del Duomo, along Via Picherali, is the Fontana Aretusa, where fresh water bubbles up as it did in ancient times when it was the city's main water supply. Legend has it that the goddess Artemis transformed her beautiful handmaiden Aretusa into the spring to protect her from the unwelcome attention of the river god Alpheus. In her watery guise Aretusa fled from Arcadia under the sea, hotly pursued by Alpheus, their waters mingling as she came to the surface in Ortygia.
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Palazzo Municipale
The Palazzo Municipale or Palazzo Senatoriale was built in 1629 by the Spanish architect Juan Vermexio, nicknamed 'Il Lucertolone' or 'the lizard'. On the left corner of the cornice is the architect's signature: a small lizard carved into a stone. In recent years, excavations beneath the building have uncovered the unfinished remains of an Ionic temple, better known as the 'couch of Artemis', to whom Ortygia was dedicated.
The mansion now serves as the city hall. To see the temple's remains, just ask at the gate.
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Parco Archaeologico della Neapolis
For the classicist, Syracuse’s real attraction is the Parco Archaeologico della Neapolis, with its pearly white, 5th-century-BC Teatro Greco, hewn out of the rock above the city. This theatre saw the last tragedies of Aeschylus (including The Persians ), which were first performed here in his presence. In summer it is brought to life again with an annual season of classical theatre. Check the www.apt-siracusa.it website for information.
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Museo Archeologico Paolo Orsi
In the grounds of Villa Landolina, about 500m east of the archaeological park, is the Museo Archeologico Paolo Orsi. It contains the best organised and most interesting archaeological collection in Sicily (and one of the most extensive archaeological collections in Europe) and certainly merits a visit. The opening hours are all over the place and are often extended in summer; check with one of the tourist offices. The museum is wheelchair accessible.
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Chiesa di Santa Lucia al Sepolcro
The northern end of one of the city's biggest squares, Piazza Santa Lucia, is dominated by the Chiesa di Santa Lucia al Sepolcro. The 17th-century church is built on the spot where the city's patron saint, Lucia, an aristocratic girl who devoted herself to saintliness after being blessed by St Agatha, was martyred in 304. Underneath the church is an impressive network of catacombs (not open to the public) that are the largest in Italy after those in Rome.
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Roman Amphitheatre
The 2nd-century-AD Roman amphitheatre is the third-largest in Italy after the Colosseum in Rome and the amphitheatre in Verona. It was used for gladiator fights and horse races. Roman punters used to park their chariots in the area between the amphitheatre and Viale Paolo Orsi. The Spaniards, little interested in archaeology, destroyed the site in the 16th century, using it as a quarry to build the city walls at Ortygia.
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Orecchio di Dionisio
A renowned curiosity at the heart of the Garden of Paradise is the ear-shaped man-made grotto known as the Orecchio di Dionisio (Ear of Dionysius). According to Caravaggio, Dionysius must have had it built so he could listen in on the conversations of the prisoners, but it is most likely that the grotto - 23m high and 65m deep - was dug out as a rock quarry and later used as a sounding board for theatrical performances.
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Castello Maniace
At the southern tip of the island is the 13th-century Castello Maniace, built by Frederick II as part of a massive programme of construction that turned Ortygia into an island fortress. Still used as a barracks, the castle is generally off-limits to the public, except during the Ortygia and Greek Classical Drama Festivals when it is the atmospheric venue for musical and theatrical performances.
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Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime
Supposedly modelled on the shape of a tear drop, Syracuse's newest landmark building (it opened in 1994 and reaches a height of 102m) is a rather ugly architectural conceit. The cavernous Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime was commissioned to house a statue of the Virgin that allegedly wept for five days in 1953 and bestowed over 300 miraculous cures within a matter of months.
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Edificio Termale
Along the water to the east of the forum (take Via dell'Arsenale) are the fenced-off remains of the ancient arsenal, once a set of rectangular pits into which ships would be pulled for re-provisioning. Adjacent are the ruins of the Edificio Termale (Thermal Building), a Byzantine bathhouse; it is claimed the Emperor Constans was assassinated with a soap dish here in 668.
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Museo Regionale d’Arte Medioevale e Moderna
Closed indefinitely for restoration at the time of research, it houses a respectable collection of sculpture and paintings dating from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Its highlights include Byzantine icons and Caravaggio’s La Sepoltura di Santa Lucia (The Burial of St Lucy; 1608). The palazzo itself is Ortygia’s finest Catalan-Gothic mansion.
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Museo delle Lacrimazione
The Museo delle Lacrimazione, underneath the Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime, explains the events of the miracle of the weeping Virgin statue and the objects associated with it. It also houses the best of the 5000 terracotta votive statues that were found near the sanctuary. You can view the excavations, in Piazza della Vittoria, from outside the fence.
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Museum of Ancient Greek Theatre
Every summer the Teatro Greco is brought to life again with a host of classical dramas, details of which you can obtain from the tourist office or the Museum of Ancient Greek Theatre. The museum showcases some of the wealth of material housed in the archives of the Instituto Nazionale Dramma Antico, including models, designs, playbills and costumes.
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Cathedral
The cathedral was a Greek temple that was converted into a church when the island was evangelised by St Paul. The sumptuous baroque facade, designed by Andrea Palma, barely hides the Temple of Athena skeleton beneath, and the huge 5th-century-BC Doric columns are still visible both inside and out.
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Ginnasio Romano
Along Via Elorina is a sight well worth visiting (though few ever seem to): the ruins of the Ginnasio Romano, built in the 1st century. Despite the name, this was actually a small theatre at the heart of a building that also contained a large atrium and another theatre directly behind the stage.
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Necropoli dei Grotticelli
The Necropoli dei Grotticelli is a honeycomb of Hellenistic and Byzantine tombs, one of which is wrongly ascribed to Archimedes. These catacombs, like the catacombs of Tyche, were once part of the underground aqueducts designed by the Greeks.
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Grotta dei Cordari
The now-closed Grotta dei Cordari (Rope-makers' Cave) is a grotto, supported by pillars, once used in the manufacture of rope; in antiquity, humidity was an essential ingredient in rope manufacture and the cave had plenty of it.
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Syracusan Forum
Near Piazzale Marconi the old Syracusan Forum (Foro Siracusano), once the site of the agora (marketplaces), is now bisected by a number of busy streets and overshadowed by some hideous architecture.
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Ara di Gerone II
West of the Roman amphitheatre is the 3rd-century-BC Ara di Gerone II (Altar of Hieron II). The monolithic sacrificial altar was a kind of giant abattoir where 450 oxen could be killed at one time.
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Miqwe
The ancient Jewish miqwe is some 20m below ground level. The baths were blocked up in 1492 when the Jewish community was expelled from Ortygia and hadn’t been revealed since then.
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Tempio di Apollo
At the entrance to Ortygia lies the Tempio di Apollo, one of the first Greek structures built here. Little remains of the 6th-century BC Doric structure, apart from the bases of a few columns.
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Fountain
Right at the heart of Ortygia is the handsome Piazza Archimede, with its 19th-century fountain (by Giulio Moschetti) of Artemis (the goddess of hunting) surrounded by handmaidens and sirens.
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