Syracuse, Sicily: The Greatest City of the Ancient World and Its Living Stone Record

Ortigia, the original island city connected to the mainland by two short bridges, contains the densest accumulation of layered history in Sicily. The Greek Temple of Apollo, built around 575 BC, is the oldest standing Doric temple in Sicily — its columns are still visible, half-embedded in a medieval church, then a mosque, then a Norman church again, the successive religious occupations of the site compressed into a single structure. The Cathedral of Syracuse is built inside the Temple of Athena, constructed in 480 BC to celebrate the defeat of the Carthaginian invasion; the temple's 36 Doric columns are incorporated into the cathedral walls, visible from inside and outside the building. The Piazza del Duomo in front of the cathedral is one of the most architecturally harmonious baroque squares in Sicily.

The Neapolis Archaeological Park, on the mainland 2 kilometres from the port, contains the physical remains of the ancient city on a scale that is hard to comprehend. The Greek Theatre, carved directly from the limestone cliff face in the fifth century BC, seated 16,000 spectators and is still used for classical drama performances each spring; the cave behind the upper tier — the Ear of Dionysius — is an acoustically remarkable limestone cavern 65 metres deep with a curved profile that amplifies sound dramatically. The Latomia dei Cappuccini, the ancient quarry system beside the theatre, provided the stone for most of classical Syracuse and later served as a prison; 7,000 Athenian prisoners from the disastrous 415 BC expedition were held here, the largest military catastrophe in Athenian history. The Roman Amphitheatre nearby, from the second century AD, is partially cut into the same rock and large enough to have held cavalry displays.

The Fonte Aretusa, a freshwater spring emerging directly at the harbor edge on Ortigia's western shore, is one of the mythological centerpieces of the ancient city: the nymph Arethusa, pursued by the river god Alpheus from Olympia in Greece, was transformed into this spring by Artemis, and papyrus — the only wild papyrus in Europe outside Africa — grows in the pool. The spring's connection to the mythology of the Olympic Games made Syracuse's coins, which depicted Arethusa, among the most prestigious currency of the ancient world. The papyrus in the pool is the genuine article; Syracuse was the source of papyrus for much of the classical Mediterranean world.

The Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi, adjacent to the Villa Landolina gardens on the mainland, is the most important Greek and Sicilian archaeological collection in Sicily and one of the best in Italy. The Landolina Venus, a first-century AD Roman copy of an Aphrodite of Praxitelean type, is the most celebrated piece; the collection of votive terracottas, coins, and bronze armor from the archaic and classical periods demonstrates the city's wealth and artistic production more completely than the monuments alone. The museum requires at least two hours; the building is purpose-designed for the collection and the organization is logical.