Ortigia Island - Taormina tours - Syracuse what to see

The island of Ortigia is a strip of land emerging from the blue of the Ionian Sea. Just one square kilometer large, it hosts the oldest center of Syracuse, a mosaic of historic building, Greek temples, churches and fountains. The sea and the sirocco wind, which in their millenary processes have outlined its profile, have decided the fate of this fragment of Sicily halfway between East and West, leading Greek and Christian ships in its safe port. That's why if you wander through the narrow alleys and the endless squares of Ortigia, you will fully breathe the authentic essence of the Mediterranean.

The door to Ortigia is the Umbertino Bridge, which connects the island to the mainland, opening a passage on a microcosm of beauty. Once you cross the bridge, the solid arms of the Temple of Apollo welcome you, with its imposing columns as eternal memory of past glory. Erected in the 6th century BC, it represents the oldest Doric temple in Sicily. Another testimony of the golden age of Greece is the Temple of Athena, which nowadays sees its columns and stepped base set in the structure of the more modern Cathedral of Syracuse, built in the seventeenth century in Baroque style. The majestic building stands out in the homonymous Piazza Duomo which, together with Piazza Montalto, today represents one of the island's poles of attraction.

Ortigia has many religious buildings, among which the Church of Santa Lucia alla Badia stands out, a masterful example of Baroque architecture and the keeper of a masterpiece of eighteenth-century art, signed by Caravaggio: the "Burial of Santa Lucia". Another structure steeped in history and charm is the Maniace Castle, located on the extreme tip of the island and built by Frederick II. With a square plan and defended by four towers and a thick wall, the fort has a suggestive interior, with high cross vaults and titanic columns. End your tour in Ortigia with a stop at the Fonte Arenusa, a place suspended between enchantment and reality. Here the fresh water gushes a few steps from the sea, creating a small lake. Between the blue of the water and the green of the vegetation, large papyrus plants sprout, a real rarity in Europe: Syracuse is one of only two places on the whole continent where this species grows spontaneously.