You can easily visit Syracuse on foot, and enjoy some beautiful strolls, whether by the Harbour or amid the ancient ruins.

Galleria Regionale di Palazzo Bellomo

This museum is housed in a beautiful palazzo, originally built in the 13th century and remodelled in the 15th, which was incorporated into the nearby monastery of San Benedetto in the 18th century and ultimately was transformed into a museum in 1948. It was completely restored in the 1970s. Its large collection of Sicilian figurative art goes from the Byzantine period to the 18th century. The single most important piece is Antonello da Messina's famous Annunciation.

Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi

This is the best archaeological museum in Sicily. Every time period is represented in the large, well organized collection, from prehistoric objects to an extensive Hellenistic collection from Syracuse's heyday. The single-most famous piece is the second century B.C. Venus Anadyomene that though headless powerfully evokes the birth of the goddess from the sea. The pre Greek vases are lovely, too.

Ortigia:

The island of Ortigia, connected to the modern town of Syracuse by a bridge (Ponte Nuovo), is where the city began back in the eighth century B.C. Surrounded by Syracuse's harbour, it is the heart of the historic city. Indeed, by the end of the 19th century, Ortigia was still all there was of Syracuse; the land side contained only the rail station and the Greek ruins. The mainland part of Syracuse has changed much since, but not Ortigia. As you cross the Ponte Nuovo, you will first see the remains of the Tempio di Apollo (Temple of Apollo); built in the sixth century B.C., reduced now to just a few columns. If you walk up Via Savoia, you come to the Porta Marina, from which you can enter the old town. Farther along the stone border of the harbour is the Fonte Aretusa, the magical spring which, according to classic mythology, was created when nymph Arethusa was turned into a spring to escape Alfeo, the marine god trying to seduce her. Famous since antiquity, this spring is rich in freshwater fish and separated from the sea only by a stone wall.

Parco Archeologico della Neopolis (Archaeological Area)

On the edge of modern Syracuse, lies the Neopolis, the Greek new town as opposed to the original settlement of Ortigia until the very large and well preserved.

Beware of the sun in the hot months – walking around the ruins at high noon can quickly exhaust and dehydrate you. Highlights of the park are the two theatres and the quarries from which stone was excavated to build the monuments in the old town. The Teatro Greco (Greek Theatre) is extraordinary: dating back to the fifth century B.C. it is actually a giant sculpture because it was carved out of the hillside, using the rock for the other buildings and for decorations. It is a beautiful example of an ancient theatre and is still used today.. The tunnels you see in the stage are aren’t original; they were dug later by the Romans so that they could use the theatre for their blood sports. At the back of the theatre are Byzantine tombs and a fountain served by the original Greek system of aqueducts fetching water from 40km (25 miles) away.

On the other side of the hill is the Latomia del Paradiso (stone quarry). What you see is a huge hole covering many acres, with a few pillars sticking up and giant stones scattered here and there. The central pillar held up the roof of the quarry, and the big blocks of stone were once the roof, which collapsed in the 1693 earthquake. One of the excavated caves, the Grotta del Cordari (Grotto of the Ropemakers); was used in the later centuries for ropemaking. It has been closed for years for safety reasons. After descending into the quarry, you can visit the Orecchio di Dionisio ( (Dionysius's Ear), a deep, very tall, pitch-black cave. The story that Dionysius used the cave to eavesdrop on conversations is a myth; the painter Caravaggio was said to have given the cave its name (perhaps he made up the story, too). Near Anfiteatro Romano (Roman Amphitheatre), built during the reign of Augustus and partially carved from the rock. Like other Roman theatres, it was used for life and death battles between humans as well as animals and was sometimes flooded and filled with crocodiles and other wild creatures for water fights.

 

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