Syracuse is one of the most beautiful Sicilian city for its history, art but also for its enviable panoramic position and its traditions. The city is spread in part on the Ortigia island and partly on land. The shape of the coastline determines the wide bay of Porto Grande, surrounded to the north and from the Island to the south from the promontory of Plemmirio.
The Greek Theatre
The Greek Theatre is the largest example of theater of the West greek. It has the distinction of being almost entirely dug into the rock. In addition to the performances, as was the custom for the ancient Greeks, the theater was used for popular assemblies. After being adapted in imperial times to the circus games, the theater was abandoned. Since 1914 with the birth INDA the stage space of the greek theater was mainly used for so-called classical performances of Greek tragedies and comedies, following the dictates of tradition. Except a few uses for concerts or official awards as the Vittorini Prize, the theater was always limited in its use in its conservation reason.
Viale Paradiso – 96100 Siracusa – tel 0931.66206
Regional Archaeological Museum
Regional Archaeological Museum Paolo Orsi headed the eminent archaeologist Paolo Orsi, a scholar of the Greek civilization and pre-Hellenic. Built in the park of Villa Landolina, it is the most important museum and modernly structured in Sicily and among the most important in Europe.
Built on two floors, houses, in its 9,000 square meters. of exhibition space, 18,000 archaeological finds from the city of Syracuse and the eastern territories of ‘Island. Of great historical and artistic interest are the grave goods of the Syracusan necropolis with a large collection of imported pottery: Corinthian, Ionic, Rhodian, Attic, Etruscan.
Website museum
Viale Teocrito, 66 – 96100 Syracuse – tel 0931.489511
The Cathedral
The Cathedral of Syracuse is on the island of Ortigia, on the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to Athena. In VII century it was transformed into a church by the bishop Zosimus, a church in the Byzantine style, dedicated to the Nativity of Mary. During the earthquake of 1728 it was largely destroyed before being rebuilt in Baroque style. Important chapels that are inside, like that of the Baptistery, which contains a baptismal font made with a marble vase from the Hellenistic period, and that of the Crucifix, which houses a painting depicting St. Zosimus the work of Antonello da Messina.
Piazza Duomo, 4-96100 Syracuse – tel uff. parish 0931.65328
Ortigia
The island of Ortigia, the oldest part of Syracuse, has always been the heart of the city. A charming place to discover walking on foot for the narrow streets and where they concentrate most of the museums and the historic buildings of the city. The island is divided into small historic districts: Sperduta, Graziella, Giudecca, Bottai, Mastrarua, Maniace, Cathedral.
Church of Saint Lucia to the Abbey
The church, located in Piazza Duomo, is dedicated to the Patron Saint of Syracuse. In the apse, behind the high altar, there is a large painting of the Burial of St. Lucia by Caravaggio painted in 1608, during his stay in Syracuse.
