Syracuse Archaeological Park

How to Complete

4 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. 📜 1

   Stand Where 7,000 Athenians Died of Thirst

   history Free

   📍 WHERE: The Latomie del Paradiso — the ancient limestone quarry inside the Neapolis Archaeological Park. Enter the park (€13 ticket covers everything) on Via Romagnoli. The quarry and the Ear of Dionysius are downhill from the theatre — follow the path toward the cliffs.

   💡 WHAT: In 413 BC, Athens sent its entire navy and 40,000 soldiers to conquer Syracuse. Every single one of them died here or was enslaved. The quarry you're standing in held 7,000 Athenian prisoners for eight months. They were given half a pint of water and one pint of grain per day. Most died of starvation, disease, or exposure before the survivors were sold as slaves. Thucydides — who was alive when this happened — wrote: 'The quarry of Syracuse held no fewer than seven thousand Athenian prisoners.' This is the place that ended Athenian naval supremacy. Athens never fully recovered.

   🎯 HOW: Walk to the far end of the quarry where the cave called the Ear of Dionysius opens into the cliff — 23m high, 65m deep, carved from the same limestone that entombed the Athenian survivors. The cave was named in 1608 by the painter Caravaggio, who saw its shape and recognized it looked exactly like a human ear. Stand inside it and make the quietest sound you can. The acoustics are uncanny — even the softest whisper resonates through the whole chamber. The legend says the tyrant Dionysius I engineered it to spy on prisoners through a hole at the top. Acoustic science says the resonance actually garbles speech too much for that. It doesn't matter. Whisper something into it and feel the scale of this place.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the park is at capacity during INDA Festival season (May–June), arrive at opening time. The quarry receives far fewer visitors than the theatre — you'll often have it mostly to yourself.

   🍷 Log Memory
2. 📜 2

   Touch the Seat Row Where Archimedes Watched Tragedies

   history $$

   📍 WHERE: Teatro Greco, within the Neapolis Archaeological Park — the same €13 ticket. The theatre is the centerpiece of the park, cut directly into the rock of the Temenites hill. Walk up from the quarry.

   💡 WHAT: This theatre was first carved in 470 BC — 2,500 years ago — and Archimedes, born in Syracuse in 287 BC, almost certainly sat in these seats. Hieron II rebuilt it around 220 BC to seat 15,000–16,000 people, making it one of the largest theatres in the ancient Greek world. 67 rows of seating were cut directly into the living rock. In 212 BC — the year Archimedes was killed defending this city — Roman general Marcellus climbed a hill outside Syracuse and, according to Plutarch, 'wept much in commiseration of its impending fate, bearing in mind how greatly its form and appearance would change.' Then his soldiers looted every sculpture and artwork they could carry to Rome. It was one of the first great transfers of Greek culture to the Roman world. Here's what makes your jaw drop: the same stage is still in use. The INDA (Istituto Nazionale Dramma Antico) runs an annual classical festival every May–June — Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, performed in ancient Greek and Italian to audiences of thousands, in the exact same theatre, under the exact same Sicilian sky.

   🎯 HOW: Climb to the top row of the cavea and sit down. Run your hand along the limestone bench — this stone was carved when Athens was at its peak. Look out over the stage and the landscape beyond. If you're here for the INDA Festival (May 9 to June 5, 2026 features Antigone directed by Robert Carsen, Alcestis, and The Persians), book tickets at indafondazione.org well in advance — central sections sell out weeks ahead. Festival tickets range from approximately €25–€80 depending on seat sector and performance.

   🔄 BACKUP: Outside festival season, the archaeological park ticket (€13 adults, €6.50 EU citizens 18–25, under 18 free) gives full access. First Sunday of every month: free entry to the entire park.

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3. 📜 3

   Walk Inside a Church That Is Still a Greek Temple

   history Free

   📍 WHERE: The Cathedral of Syracuse (Duomo di Siracusa), Piazza del Duomo, Ortygia island. From the park, walk or take a taxi 2km south to Ortygia, crossing one of the two bridges. The Piazza del Duomo is the baroque heart of the island — you'll smell the stone and hear the swallows before you see it.

   💡 WHAT: In 480 BC — the same year Athens defeated Persia at Salamis — the tyrant Gelo built a Temple of Athena on this spot to celebrate his victory over Carthage at the Battle of Himera. It stood for over a thousand years. Then, in the 7th century AD, Bishop Zosimo of Syracuse did something extraordinary: instead of demolishing it, he built a church inside it. He carved archways through the walls of the cella (the sacred inner chamber) to make a nave. He filled the gaps between the peristyle columns — the outer ring of stone pillars — to make the outer walls of the church. The Greek temple didn't become the foundation of the cathedral. The Greek temple IS the cathedral. Nine of the original Doric columns from the right-side peristyle are visible inside the right aisle — stand against one. Two columns from the front of the cella are also incorporated into the interior. These stones were set in place 2,500 years ago. A slightly lopsided quality runs through the whole building: a 1542 earthquake shifted the columns. They've been slightly askew ever since.

   🎯 HOW: Enter from Piazza del Duomo (approximately €2 donation requested, or free — verify on arrival). Walk immediately to the right aisle and press your palm flat against one of the interior columns. Count them: nine columns visible from this aisle, their massive drums stacked without mortar, the way the Greeks always built. Then step back and look at the Baroque facade the Spanish added in the 1600s. The same building contains every layer: Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Norman, Spanish Baroque. Syracuse in one wall.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the cathedral is closed for a service, the exterior of the Piazza del Duomo is still worth the visit — the square is widely considered one of the most beautiful baroque piazzas in all of Sicily. The Temple of Apollo on the northern tip of Ortygia (also free, exterior visible 24h) is the oldest Doric temple in eastern Sicily (565 BC) and was a Byzantine church, then an Islamic mosque, then a Norman church — a similar story of layered history.

   🍷 Log Memory
4. 🍷 4

   Drink the Wine That Was Growing Here When Archimedes Was Alive

   wine $

   📍 WHERE: Enoteca Evoè, Via della Maestranza 56, Ortygia — a four-minute walk from the Piazza del Duomo, along the main street of the historic island. GPS: 37.06087, 15.29553. Open Tuesday–Sunday.

   💡 WHAT: Nero d'Avola is the indigenous red grape of this exact province — it takes its name from the town of Avola, 25km south of where you're sitting. The best production zones are in the triangle between Avola, Noto, Eloro, and Pachino — all within Syracuse province. This grape has been cultivated here for centuries and produces a wine that is dark, smooth, and carries a spicy, almost chocolatey kick that nothing from mainland Italy or any other region can replicate. Evoè stocks two versions: one young and fruity, one oaked and structured. Ask the staff for both — the contrast shows what the grape can do at two different stages of its life.

   🎯 HOW: Order a glass of each Nero d'Avola they have open — typically around €5–€8 per glass. Add an antipasto plate (caponata, olives, local cheese, salami) which pairs perfectly with the structured version. The young one pairs with the caponata's sweet-sour agrodolce. While you drink, consider what's in the glass: this grape was here when this city stopped Athens, when Archimedes held off Rome, when Marcellus wept at this city's beauty before he looted it. The same soil. 25km away. If Evoè is full or closed on the day you visit, Enoteca Solaria (Via Cavour 2, since 1987, nearly 2,000 labels, RAW WINE listed) is a 5-minute walk and equally deep in Sicilian producers.

   🔄 BACKUP: Any enoteca or trattoria in Ortygia will stock at least one Nero d'Avola from the local province. Ask for 'Nero d'Avola from Avola, Noto, or Pachino' to get the real terroir expression rather than a generic Sicilian blend.

   🍷 Log Memory

Insider Tips

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  Greek theatre still hosts classical performances (summer)

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  Ortigia island is magical at night

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  Temple of Apollo is Syracuse's oldest

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  Papyrus grows wild here — only place in Europe