The town is known in Sicily for its excellent seafood restaurants. Usually a visit is split into two parts, one dedicated to the archaeological site, the “Parco Archeologico Neapolis”, the other to the historical town centre, the island of Ortygia.
Syracuse is easy to visit in one day, though deserves rather more time. Syracuse is listed along with the Necropolis of Pantàlica by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. For specially interested visitors: there is a Commonwealth War Graves cemetery west of the town, where about 1.000 men are buried. Syracuse was captured almost unopposed on the first day of the invasion by General Montgomery's Eighth Army. Operation Husky was launched on the night of 9/10 July 1943 with British forces attacking the west of Sicily. Who has not heard of “Operation Husky” – the codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily. In 1943 heavy destruction was caused by the Allied and German bombings. Unbelievable, but nowadays Syracuse has only about 120,000. Ancient writers speak of a population between 500,000 and 1,500.000 inhabitants. Syracuse is mentioned in the “Acts of the Apostles”, book 28:12, as Paul stayed here. Did you know that the ancient gold coins of Syracuse belong to the most beautiful in the world? You can admire them at the Collezione Nusmismatica.Īncient Syracuse was the most important city of Magna Graecia, home to many great Greeks, including the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. The city continued to prosper until it was conquered two centuries later by the Romans. Mighty Athens did not welcome the rise of Syracuse and the Athenians set out to conquer Sicily in 413 BC, but the natives outsmarted them in what was one of the greatest military campaigns in ancient history. Although Syracuse lived under rulers such as the tyrant Dionysius, their courts were filled with Greeks of the highest cultural stature like the dramatists Euripides and Aeschylus, and the philosopher Plato. It became one of the great ancient capitals of Western civilization, the wealthiest and largest city-state in the West and a bulwark of Greek civilization. The city was founded in 734 BC by Greek colonists from Corinth and soon grew to rival, and even surpass, Athens in splendor and power.
It is a wonder to behold, as it has some of the finest examples of Baroque architecture and art, a cathedral that is stuff of legend and dramatic Greek and Roman ruins. We do not know what the other cities of Magna Graecia looked like, but we sure believe Cicero that Syracuse was the most beautiful one. According to Cicero, Syracuse was “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all”.
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