The discovery route of this province starts out on Ortygia island.
It resembles a museum, surrounded by the sea and sky.
Its squares, streets and alleys trace a fence around this small jewel box, with its buildings, churches, temples, walls and facades decorating each corner. The majestic Maniace Castle belonging to the Swabian era, dominates the extreme point of the island, an ideal position from which the maritime routes were checked. Looking out on the side of the Porto Grande, the Adorno esplanade with the delicate hues of 19th-century buildings denotes its features, which includes the Aretusa Fountain, one of Ortygia’s most enchanting corners with the greenness of papyrus plants offsetting its outline.
Beyond the seafront is the cathedral square, an exceptional example of the stratifying of different styles, perfectly blended as one. The Doric Temple dedicated to Athena is the heart around which the Christian church was built. Belonging to the Byzantine era, it was renovated by the Normans. The façade was destroyed in an earthquake, and rebuilt in the 18th Century in Baroque style.
Not far away from the former monastery of San Benedetto, you can visit Palazzo Bellomo which not only is a clear example of Swabian influence with the signs of works done in a Catalan style, but also exhibits items from the Regional Gallery such as a precious art collection with sculptures of Domenico Gagini and Giovan Battista Mazzolo, along with pictorial works of Antonello da Messina and Caravaggio.
The Temple of Apollo stands on the wet dockside, first transformed into a church, then built into a mosque by the Arabs and again into a church by the Normans.
The three bridges lead to the Syracuse mainland, a hotbed for great historical memoirs. You only have to go to the Neapolis Archeological Park to take stock of this fact. The picture that unfolds before your eyes will bring you back thousands of years in time.
The stately Greek Theater, a portion of which is dug into the rocks, is the most famous of the ancient world. It is still today an attractive stage for theatre events.
On one side you find the Latomia del Paradiso with numberless stone caves among which the Grotta dei Cordari, the Grotta del Salnitro and the one that Caravaggio named “The Ear of Dionysius” due to its particular acoustic effect. The Altar of Hiero II and the Roman Amphitheater are other precious evidences to be seen in the Park.
Do not miss a visit to the ”Paolo Orsi,” Regional Archeological Museum with its 9,000 square meters of exhibits inside a modern structure with three main buildings arranged around a circular ambience. The collection gives a historical picture of Prehistory up to the Classical Age.
A fascinating page of Mediterranean history was written in Pantalica, one of the most ancient towns of the Island, where the allure of the past blends with nature. Five thousand cave-tombs dug into rocks and the Anàktoron, a monumental royal palace perched on the top of a hill, testify to the presence of man in these lands since prehistoric times. Of extraordinary value, it is enhanced by the naturalistic context of the Natural Reserve of the Anapo Valley with its ravines and sheer cliffs.
From archeology to art. Located on the highlands dominating the Asinaro valley stands Noto, the cradle of Sicilian Baroque art, and one of the most beautiful towns in Sicily as well as a World Heritage Site. It is called “Garden of stone” and when you walk through its streets, you finally see why: the buildings, churches, stuccowork, decors and embellishments narrate of the ostentation which swathed Sicily in the 18th century.
The Porta Reale demarcates the entrance to the historical centre, passing through the elegant Corso Vittorio Emanuele, divided into three main squares. Piazza del Municipio opens out with its regal stairway leading to the Cathedral courtyard delimited on the sides by two bell towers.
Three 19th-century buildings – the Palazzo Vescovile, Palazzo Lanolina and Palazzo Ducezio - mark out the square’s perimeter, a jewel box of architectonic treasures.
A short distance away is the monumental complex of Santissimo Salvatore which includes the monastery, Basilica and seminary, each designed according to different styles perfectly blended into one, in harmony with one another, in a very picturesque and impressive synthesis. A visit to the church of Santa Chiara is certainly not to be missed. It is richly decorated with stuccowork, putto and colonnades that harmoniously blend with the interior sculptures and paintings.
Another must is the church of San Domenico, work of art by Rosario Gagliardi, with its convex façade, decorated with columns, anticipating the beauty within. Vincenzo Sinatra, one of the architects who contributed to Noto’s rebirth, built the church of Montevergini. The concave perspective with the two bell towers on the sides, closes Nicolaci street, adorned as in a feast. Special mention goes to the splendid balconies adorning the exterior of Palazzo Nicolaci Villadorata. The triumph of exterior décor and precious frescoes of Mazza seen in the interior halls make of Palazzo Trigona, a true work of art.
The other Baroque gem of the Noto valley is Palazzolo Acrèide. Walking along the streets of the historical centre you will not fail to admire those splendid 18th-century works of art, standing under the tutelage of UNESCO.