March 2025. We’re embarking on a train trip to Sicily. We fly from Brussels Airport to Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport with ITA Airways. Then we take an Intercity Notte sleeper train by Trenitalia from Roma Termini Railway Station across Italy to Syracuse. Yes, the train is loaded on a ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. After visiting Syracuse, Catania and Palermo, we return to Rome, and home. With 25,832 km², Sicily is only 20% smaller than Belgium (30,689 km²). Quite a lot in four days.
After checking in and dropping our luggage at the Caportigia Boutique Hotel, we stayed on the Neapolis (Νεά Πολις, New City in Classical Greek) side of Syracuse for the Neapolis Archaeological Park.
Introduction to Syracuse
Syracuse, Siracusa in Italian and Saragusa in Sicilian, serves as the capital of the Province of Syracuse. Renowned for its significant Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheatres and architecture, the city is especially notable as the birthplace and home of the renowned mathematician and engineer Archimedes.
With a history spanning 2,700 years, Syracuse played a vital role in antiquity as one of the major powers of the Mediterranean Sea. Positioned on the south-eastern coast of Sicily, it lies along the Gulf of Syracuse beside the Ionian Sea. Offshore depths near the city drop rapidly to around 2,000 metres, though the city itself is not particularly hilly.
The city was founded in either 734 or 733 BC by Ancient Greek settlers from Corinth and Tenea, under the leadership of the oecist Archias. Syracuse rapidly rose to prominence as a powerful city-state, allied with Sparta and Corinth, and became the most influential city in Magna Graecia. Cicero described it as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all”, and by the fifth century BC, it rivalled Athens in size.
Subsequently, Syracuse became part of the Roman Republic and then the Byzantine Empire. Between 663 and 669, it served as the capital of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Constans II. Its prominence was later overtaken by Palermo, which became the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. The kingdom was eventually merged with Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, until the unification of Italy in 1860.
Today, Syracuse is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the nearby Necropolis of Pantalica. The modern city has a population of approximately 125,000. It is mentioned in the Bible in Acts 28:12, where the Apostle Paul is said to have stayed in the city. The patron saint is Saint Lucy, who was born in Syracuse. Her feast day, Saint Lucy’s Day, is celebrated on 13 December.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the region surrounding Syracuse was inhabited in prehistoric times, as shown by remains from settlements at Stentinello, Ognina, Plemmirio, Matrensa, Cozzo Pantano and Thapsos, which maintained contact with Mycenaean Greece.
The name ‘Syracuse’ has multiple possible origins.
Ancient Greek variants include Συράκουσαι (Syrakousai), Συράκοσαι (Syrakosai), and Συρακώ (Syrakō). One theory suggests the name derives from a Phoenician phrase meaning ‘Stone of the seagulls’, while another attributes it to a local marsh called Syrako, as cited by ancient authors including Stephanus of Byzantium and Epicharmus.
The original settlement was centred on the island of Ortygia. The Greek colonists, led by Archias, planned the city with designated property divisions and street layouts. The fertile land and the cooperation of native tribes supported rapid growth.
Syracuse eventually became the leading Greek city in the Mediterranean, founding colonies including Akrai (664 BC), Kasmenai (643 BC), Akrillai and Helorus in the 7th century BC, and Kamarina (598 BC).
Initially governed by descendants of the first settlers, known as the Gamoroi, the ruling class was temporarily overthrown with the help of the Cyllyrians, a class of enslaved natives.
However, the Gamoroi were restored to power in 485 BC with the assistance of Gelo, ruler of Gela, who became Syracuse’s tyrant. He relocated populations from Gela, Kamarina, and Megara, and expanded the city with new districts such as Tyche and Neapolis. A new theatre, designed by Damocopos, was built, drawing cultural figures including Aeschylus. Gelo’s alliance with Theron of Agrigento led to the defeat of Carthaginian forces at the Battle of Himera. A temple to Athena was constructed to mark the victory.
By the fifth century BC, the city’s fortifications enclosed around 120 hectares, and its overall population was estimated at about 250,000, similar in size to Athens.
Gelo was succeeded by his brother Hiero, who defeated the Etruscans at Cumae in 474 BC. His court attracted poets like Simonides, Bacchylides and Pindar. Following the brief tyranny of Thrasybulos, a democracy was established. Syracuse continued to expand militarily and commercially, including expeditions in the Tyrrhenian Sea and as far as Corsica and Elba.
During the Peloponnesian War, Syracuse successfully resisted an Athenian invasion during the Sicilian Expedition, aided by a Spartan general. In 401 BC, the city sent troops to support Cyrus the Younger’s campaign.
In the 4th century BC, Dionysius the Elder built extensive fortifications, including 22 km-long city walls and a fortress on Ortygia. He expanded Syracusan territory and founded new cities, while also supporting the arts. Plato visited Syracuse but was imprisoned by Dionysius after disagreements. His son, Dionysius the Younger, was overthrown by Dion, whose own regime also failed. Eventually, the Corinthian Timoleon restored democracy and repelled Carthaginian threats.
In 317 BC, Agathocles seized power and waged war against Carthage, even invading Africa. Although ultimately unsuccessful, he defended Syracuse effectively.
Following his death in 289 BC, Carthage again attempted to seize the city but was repelled after the arrival of Pyrrhus of Epirus. Hiero II rose to power in 275 BC and established a prosperous 50-year reign. His policies, including the Lex Hieronica, were later adopted by the Romans. He expanded the theatre and built the large altar known as the Ara of Hiero. Archimedes, the city’s most renowned figure, lived during this time, inventing devices used in the later Roman siege.
After Hiero’s death, his successor Hieronymus allied with Carthage, prompting a Roman siege in 214 BC. Despite prolonged resistance, the city fell in 212 BC. Archimedes was killed during the capture, reportedly by a Roman soldier. The Roman commander Marcellus permitted looting of the city after an eight-month siege.
Under Roman rule, Syracuse remained the capital of the Roman province of Sicily and an important port. Christianity spread early, with Paul of Tarsus and Saint Marziano among its first evangelists. The city contains extensive catacombs, second in size only to those in Rome.
After brief Vandal rule, the city came under Ostrogothic and then Byzantine control. From 663 to 668, Emperor Constans II ruled the Byzantine Empire from Syracuse. His assassination followed suspicions that he intended to make Syracuse the permanent capital.
The city endured sieges by the Aghlabids in 827–828 and again in 878, when it finally fell after nearly a year of resistance. Under Muslim rule, Syracuse lost its capital status to Palermo.
The cathedral was turned into a mosque, and Ortygia was rebuilt in Islamic style. Despite this, trade and culture continued to flourish, and the city became home to notable Arab poets, including Ibn Hamdis.
The Byzantines briefly reconquered the city in 1038, and in 1086 it was taken by the Normans after a lengthy siege. They restored the cathedral and constructed new quarters. Under Norman and later Hohenstaufen rule, prominent buildings such as the Castello Maniace were built. Following a brief Genoese administration, Frederick II reasserted royal control and initiated several architectural projects. During the War of the Sicilian Vespers, Syracuse sided with the Aragonese and was rewarded with privileges for expelling the Angevins.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Syracuse suffered devastating earthquakes in 1542 and 1693, and a plague in 1729. Much of the city was rebuilt in the Sicilian Baroque style. A cholera outbreak in 1837 triggered a revolt against the Bourbons, resulting in the temporary loss of its status as provincial capital to Noto. The city took part in the 1848 Sicilian revolution.
After Italian unification in 1865, Syracuse regained its status as provincial capital. The city walls were demolished, a bridge was built to connect the mainland with Ortygia, and railway links were established.
In the 20th century, Syracuse suffered heavy damage from Allied bombings during World War II. The Allied invasion of Sicily, known as Operation Husky, began on the night of 9–10 July 1943, with British forces landing near the city.
The Neapolis Archaeological Park
The Parco archeologico di Siracusa or Parco archeologico della Neapoli includes the northern part of the district of the Neapolis.
The park presents a chronological overview of the city’s ancient history, spanning from the Sicilian period to the Roman Empire.
The Church of San Nicolò ai Cordari, built shortly after the Norman conquest, stands above the Roman Pool and served as the funeral site of Giordano d’Altavilla in 1093. In 1577, it was given to local rope-makers and later became the park’s visitor entrance. Beneath it, the Roman Pool collected water for spectacles in the nearby amphitheatre.
The Roman Amphitheatre, one of the largest of its time, was carved into rock and dates to the early Imperial period. Measuring 140 by 119 metres, it featured a central corridor, two main entrances, and a covered passage for gladiators and animals. At its southern end stood a monumental triumphal arch, now lost. Nearby are Hellenistic houses and Roman sarcophagi.
To the east lies the Altar of Hieron II, a massive structure cut into Temenite Hill and dedicated to Zeus Eleutherios. Only its 198-metre-long base survives, the upper structure having been dismantled in the 16th century.
The Greek Theatre, originally built in the 5th century BC and rebuilt in the 3rd, is one of the largest in the Greek world with a cavea diameter of nearly 139 metres. It hosted performances of Aeschylus’s works during the rule of Hiero I. Though altered in Roman times and looted in the 16th century, it is still used for classical plays today.
Above the theatre lies the Grotta del Ninfeo, a sanctuary of the Muses featuring a waterfall-fed basin and votive shrines. The Via dei Sepolcri, lined with hero cult niches, leads to the summit of Temenite Hill, where remains of the Sanctuary of Apollo Temenite are found.
The Galermi Mills, powered by an ancient aqueduct, operated above the theatre in medieval times. Only the millers’ house remains, built atop a Sicel tomb. The bridge that channelled water to the mills was demolished in the 19th century.
The latomias—ancient stone quarries later used as prisons—were described by Cicero as vast and impressive. The Latomia del Paradiso is the largest, dense with vegetation and caves.
The Ear of Dionysius, a tall, narrow cave within it, was named by Caravaggio and is linked to the tyrant’s supposed eavesdropping. The Grotta dei Cordari, used by rope-makers until the 20th century, and the Grotta del Salnitro, coloured by mineral deposits, also lie within.
The nearby Latomia dell’Intagliatella features a slender rock pillar and connects to the Paradiso quarry. The Latomia di Santa Venera, known for its exotic flora and large ficus tree, contains hero cult shrines.
At the park’s edge, the Grotticelle Necropolis reveals tombs from the Sicilian to Roman periods. Among them is the so-called ‘Tomb of Archimedes‘, dating to the Imperial era and containing cremation urns—evidence it could not have been his. Though Cicero claimed to have located Archimedes’ real tomb near the river Ciane, its true location remains unknown.
A visit
We bought our tickets across the road of the main entrance. The Neapolis Archaeological Park doesn’t steal its name. It really is a park. There’s a trail to follow. In theory there are three colour coded trails, but we never saw colour coded signs.
The trail starts with the caves and modern art. There was (and is until 26 October 2025) a retrospective outdoors exhibition of Igor Mitoraj in Syracuse and on the Etna volcano.
After the caves, you can visit the Greek and Roman ruins.
I was looking for film locations used for the 2023 film ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘ and the Ear of Dionysius is one of them.
The park is definitely a site to see in Syracuse.
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