Search the new site:


Syracuse (Siracuza) 27 pictures Syracuse was one of the most important colonies of Magna Grecia and according to reliable sources was founded by Corinthian settlers in 734 B.C. The first settlements were on the island of Ortygia, which became the original core of a much vaster inhabited area. The city grew rapidly in prosperity and military strength, and soon became a magnetic center of power for the entire Mediterranean Basin, defeating the Carthaginians at Hymera (480 B.C.). After various vicissitudes, the city was taken by the Romans by subterfuge during the second Punic war (212 B.C.). When the power of Rome declined, Syracuse suffered repeated attacks by Franks, Vandals and Goths, united with the Byzantine empire (first half of the 6^th century A.D.) It housed the court of Constans II, who was assassinated there in 668 B.C. Occupied by the Arabs in 878, it lost the important administrative role it had played up to then. Theater This theater is built into the rocky sides of the Temenite hill, with its auditorium toward the plain of Syracuse and its fringe of sea. The theater goes back originally to the 5^th century B.C., having been built by the architect Democopos. On the 3^rd century B.C. at the time of Hiero II the structure underwent considerable remodeling and expanding, which changed its original appearance. Under the Romans (1^st century A.D.) the theater was further altered to accommodate certain kinds of plays and spectacles typical of the Roman world. In the 16^th century the upper part of the auditorium and the stage were dismantled to be used as building material in the fortifications of Ortygia, seriously and irrecoverably alterting and damaging its structural integrity. Altar of Hiero II This is the biggest altar of Greek antiquity. It was built by Hiero II in the 3^rd century B.C. and consists of a rectangular structure measuring 22.8 x 198 meters. In Roman times the pool and the portico surrounding it were added. The part cut into the rock has been preserved, while the erected walls were destroyed during the 16^th century by the Spanish. Ear of Dionysius The ear of Dionysius as Caravaggio called it, is in the shape of an outer ear and has extraordinary acoustic qualities. Legend recounts that the tyrant of Syracuse shut his enemies in this cave and listened to their conversations from outside. Back to Sicily Index