Sights in Siracusa

This vast archaeological park contains Siracusa's greatest concentration of ruins. It's divided into three main sections: the latomie (stone quarries), the Greek theater (where they still hold summertime performances), and the Roman amphitheater, all of which you can see in about two hours... » more

This fantastic museum is one of Italy's top archaeological collections, and by far the best in Sicily. It'd be a worthwhile stop simply for the aesthetic beauty of many pieces, and the well-documented exhibits make it invaluable for understanding the Greek and other cultures of ancient Sicily... » more

What is now the ruined church of San Giovanni, romantically sprouting flowers and weeds, was a potters’ cave in Greek times, but after St. Paul preached on the spot it became serious holy ground. A 6th-century basilica here was knocked down by the Saracens then rebuilt by the Normans in the 12th century. An Earthquake partly destroyed that, and another in 1908 shook off most the baroque church built around the ruins, at which point Siracusans gave up and left the roofless Norman walls and half an apse as they were... » more

If you're interested in seeing a modern cult at work, pop into that giant upside-down ice cream cone across the street from the archeological museum. Built to house a cheap, mass-produced gypsum bas-relief of the Madonna that miraculously wept on the wall of a Siracusan home for 3 days in 1953, the sanctuary is supposed to resemble a teardrop and was apparently raised on the concept that if you stack enough cement toward the heavens, God will notice... » more

The interior of the city's cathedral is marvelously simple, a honey-colored world of sacred quiet that feels about as close as stepping back in time and into an ancient temple as you're ever going to find. That's because it is actually a 5th-century BC Temple to Athena temple that was adapted by the Byzantines and then the Normans. To convert the Greek temple to a church wasn't hard: They just punched archways through the cella (the sacred central chamber of the temple) to make it into a nave, and filled in between 19 giant Doric columns from the temple's peristyle to make the outer walls of the aisle... » more

Siracusa's most famous mythological site is this lovely little sunken pond by the harbor, planted with puffy-headed, willowy papyrus and swimming with fish and ducks. Half a dozen Greek poets wrote the tale of the nymph Arethusa, who was bathing in the Alpheus River in Greece one day when the god of that river took a liking to her. She begged for deliverance from his advances, and Artemis in pity turned the nymph into a spring, allowing her to escape underground. She traveled under the sea to emerge here, in Siracusa... » more

In the Catalan-Gothic Palazzo Bellomo, built between the 13th and 15th centuries, is the regional art museum, featuring two stellar works—Antonello da Messina's highly ruinous but still exquisitely painted Annunciation (1474), and Caravaggio's moody Deposition of S. Lucia (1608)—some lesser Renaissance and baroque canvases, and a nice collection of medieval and Renaissance sculptures... » more

Begun by the Byzantine commander Giorgio Mainace in 1038, this fortress anchoring the southernmost tip of Ortigia islands was expanded many times, most notably in the middle of the 13th century. It housed many members of the Aragonese royal family from the 13th to 15th centuries, and continued to serve a colorful military role until the 21st century... » more

The ramp that curves down around the Fonte Arethusa leads to a city aquarium featuring a small but colorful collection of Mediterranean fish and sea critters for once to be admired and not ordered as a fritto misto. The big plus is that to exit the museum you cross through the fenced-off Fonte Arethusa—it's only way to get down there amid the ducks and papyrus... » more