Exploring Ortigia, the Ancient Heart of Syracuse, Syracuse, Italy

According to Cicero, the greatest of Greek cities wasn’t in Greece itself but in Sicily. He described Ortigia, the original heart of modern-day Syracuse, as ‘the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of all’. Situated on a small island, the city was founded by the Greek settlers from Corinth in 743 B.C.

Today UNESCO listed Ortigia has everything you hope to find in an Italian city. There are ancient ruins from both Greek and Roman times, a Baroque cathedral, and winding lanes that ooze history at every turn. Oh, and great gelato too of course!

But we started our visit not with gelato but with its more refreshing cousin, granitia. It was a hot day and we had parked, as you must, in a large car park on the mainland (Ortigia is an island city). From here it was about ten minutes’ walk to the bridge that links the island to the rest of Syracuse. A period of cooling off was required before we started to explore. Do come with me on a (belated) Monday Walk.

We started with a wander through the street market which was selling mostly tourist ‘tat’, though I was briefly tempted by a decorative tile to be used as a trivet. That was, until I realised how much it would weigh down my suitcase! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).