Page 350 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

reconquered Syracuse from the Arabs in 1038. Now that the military has moved out,

the barracks buildings are used by the university’s archeological department, while
visitors are allowed to enter through the imposing main gate and wander the echoing
halls, chambers and defensive ramparts. Restoration work continues to shore up the
neglected castle interior – one of the rooms displays a copy of the famous bronze ram
statue, known as L’Ariete, a pair of which once guarded the castle gates. The original
is now in Palermo’s archeological museum.

Mainland Siracusa

Modern development in the mainland quarters of Siracusa makes it difficult to picture
the ancient city that Plutarch wept over when he heard of its fall to the Romans. Much
of the new building dates from after World War II, when Siracusa was bombed twice
over – once by the Allies, then, after its capture, by the Luftwaffe in 1943. But even

so, some extraordinary relics survive, both in Achradina, the nearest mainland quarter
to Ortigia, but far more impressively in the northern district of Neapolis, where the
main archeological park is sited. There’s plenty more to see too in Tyche, the location

of the city’s unsurpassed archeological museum, while that district in particular is
riddled with underground catacombs. Regular city buses run to all these places,
departing from Riva della Posta on Ortigia or Via Rubino off Corso Umberto I, or you
can walk to the museum, catacombs or archeological park in under half an hour from
Ortigia.

On the mainland, you’ll find congenial spots for swimming and sunbathing if you

head north along Riviera Dionisio il Grande, or south at Isola, on the far side of Porto
Grande, reachable by bus #23 from Piazza Pancali.

Foro Siracusano

Corso Umberto I • No set hours • Free
Over the bridges from Ortigia, the main drag of Corso Umberto I runs up to the small

urban park known as the Foro Siracusano, once site of the old town’s agora. There’s
not much to see today, though the gardens (and playground) are not a bad place for a
shady picnic.

Ginnasio Romano

Via Elorina • Not usually open to the public, though sometimes open without notice

Set in an unprepossessing position on busy Via Elorina, the main road out to the
beaches, the diminutive Ginnasio Romano was never actually a gymnasium at all but
a small Roman theatre, probably built in the first century AD when the ancient city’s
much grander Greek theatre was requisitioned for blood sports. All you can see from
the road is the shape of the semicircular cava; if you do happen to find the building