Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the hotel Alla Giudecca (
Click here
)
you can visit an ancient Jewish
miqwe
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(ritual bath; 093 12 22 55; Via Alagona 52; hourly tours €5; 11am &
noon daily, 4pm, 5pm & 6pm Mon-Sat)
some 20m below ground level. Blocked up in 1492
when the Jewish community was expelled from Ortygia, the baths were rediscovered dur-
ing renovation work.
1
Mainland Syracuse
Parco Archeologico
della Neapolis
( 093 16 50 68; Viale Paradiso; adult/reduced €10/free-€5; 9am-6pm Apr-Oct, 9am-4pm Nov-Mar)
For the classicist, Syracuse's real attraction is this archaeological park, with its pearly
is)
, hewn out of the rock above the city. This theatre saw the last tragedies of Aeschylus
(including
The Persians
), which were first performed here in his presence. In summer it
is brought to life again with an annual season of classical theatre.
(Parco Archeologico della Neapolis)
, a precipitous limestone quarry where stone for the ancient
city was extracted. Riddled with catacombs and surrounded by citrus and magnolia trees,
this is also where the 7000 survivors of the war between Syracuse and Athens in 413 BC
Archeologico della Neapolis, Latomia del Paradiso)
, a grotto 23m by 3m deep, was named by
Caravaggio after the tyrant, who is said to have used the almost perfect acoustics of the
quarry to eavesdrop on his prisoners.
Nearer the park's entrance you'll find the 2nd-century AD
Anfiteatro Romano
the 3rd-century BC Ara di Gerone II, a monolithic sacrificial altar to Heron II where up to
450 oxen could be killed at one time.
To reach the park, take bus 1, 3 or 12 from Ortygia's Piazza Pancali and get off at the
corner of Corso Gelone and Viale Teocrito. Alternatively, the walk from Ortygia will take
about 30 minutes. If driving, you can park along Viale Augusto (tickets available at the
nearby souvenir kiosks).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
Museo Archeologico
