Visiting Syracuse in Sicily is one of those rare experiences where the layers of history do not sit behind glass. They are underfoot, in the wall of a cathedral, in the shape of a harbour that once held off the Athenian fleet. This was among the greatest cities of the ancient Greek world, the home of Archimedes, and the Greek bones of it have never really been covered over. Two and a half thousand years later, people still live in it, hang their washing above the lanes and argue about parking in front of ruins.
For Australian travellers, Syracuse rewards the long flight because it is not a single monument you tick off. It is a working city on the Ionian coast with an island old town, a serious archaeological park, honey coloured baroque streets and Europe’s most active volcano on the northern horizon.
Ortigia, the island at the heart of it
Ortigia is the original settlement, a small island joined to the modern city by bridges, and it is where most visitors spend their days. The lanes are narrow, shaded and slightly crooked, and they have a habit of opening without warning onto a square or a wall of blue sea. Sam and his travelling companion wandered its heart on their first day and came back through it in the evening heat, noting that the residences here are old, tall and generally reached by a climb of stairs. That is worth knowing when you book: character and lifts rarely come together in a place like this.
The cathedral is the clearest illustration of the city’s habit of building on top of itself. The Doric columns of a fifth century BC temple to Athena are still standing inside the walls, so you walk past ancient stone on your way to a baroque facade. Elsewhere in Ortigia, grand old palazzi sit shoulder to shoulder with corner bars, and ancient ruins stand in the middle of open squares, close enough to touch. Sam joked that they must be constructing the ruins on purpose to add a bit of history, which is a fair reaction the first time you see antiquity used as street furniture.
The Greek and Roman city
Across the water from Ortigia, the Neapolis archaeological park holds the Greek theatre cut into the hillside, the Roman amphitheatre and the vast limestone quarries that supplied the ancient city. Among them is the tall, curved cave known as the Ear of Dionysius, famous for the way sound travels inside it. Go in the cooler part of the day, take a hat and water, and allow more time than you think, because the site is bigger and more exposed than it looks from the entrance.
Mount Etna on the horizon
Etna dominates this side of Sicily, and from Syracuse it is close enough for a full day on the mountain. The usual approach is from the southern slopes above Catania, with a cable car, then four wheel drive vehicles, then a guide on the upper reaches. How high anyone gets on the day depends on the weather and on the volcano’s own mood, which is part of the appeal. Sam had the mountain firmly in his sights, having already seen Vesuvius further north on the mainland.
Visiting Syracuse in Sicily by ferry and autostrada
Arriving overland is a fine way to reach the island. Sam drove down the toe of Italy and took the car ferry across the strait, then continued south past Catania to Syracuse. If you are driving yourself, take his warning seriously: on narrow streets, drivers step out of parked cars without looking, and he lost a wing mirror to exactly that on the way to the ferry. Tolls, ticket machines and queues also take patience, and the far more relaxed option is to fly into Catania and have a transfer or a driver waiting.
When to go and how it fits a wider trip
Spring and autumn are the sweet spots. The days are long enough for both the archaeological park and the old town, the sea is still inviting and the heat is manageable, which matters in a city where the walking is done on stone in full sun. High summer is hot, as Sam kept noting, and midsummer crowds concentrate in Ortigia.
Syracuse sits neatly on a wider Sicilian loop with Etna and Taormina to the north and the baroque towns of the Val di Noto inland. It also works as the southern end of a longer Italian journey that comes down from Rome and the Bay of Naples by road and rail. Three or four nights lets you slow down properly, and we are always happy to shape a Sicilian leg around what you actually want to see, whether that is ancient stone, volcanic slopes or long lunches by the water.
