SYRACUSE, SICILY
THE DESTINATION
Syracuse, Italy — Cicero described Siracusa as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all." Once a rival to Athens as the most important city in the Greek world, Syracuse remains an ideal entry way into the rich and textured history of Sicily and the Mediterranean. Ortygia, the medieval historic center of Syracuse, is a small island little more than a mile long and half again as wide. The Ponte Nuova joins Ortygia to the rest of the city along the southeastern coast of Sicily. The Fountain of Arethusa, the Temple of Apollo, a Greek amphitheater, the Ear of Dionysius, the Catacombs of San Giovanni, fantastic food, and Sicily’s most beautiful beaches can all be found at Syracuse. A survivor of Athenian, Roman, and Muslim sieges, plagues, cholera, revolution, and Allied and German bombings, Syracuse retains its diverse history in its landscape. A wall of the ancient Temple of Minerva can be found in the city’s cathedral, illustrating one of many ways in which the city harbors vestiges of its rich past.