SIRACUSA - ORTIGIA - TEATRO GRECO

Siracusa was founded by a group of Greek colonists, and the name of the city comes from the Greek Sirako that means marsh. Today, Siracusa is a city that numbers about 127 thousand people distributed in five neighborhoods that characterized the old urban center called �Pentacoli di Dionisio�: Akradina, Tike, Neapolis, Ortigia and Santa Lucia. Siracusa offers, from an artistic point of view, numerous prestigious monuments among them it emerges the Maniace Castle that rises in Ortigia island. Another important monument is the Duomo of Siracusa erected in the VI century on Athena temple which dates  back to the V century B.C. The fa�ade of the duomo is baroque (1724) and it has been made by A. Palma. Inside the church there is the statue of Santa Lucia, saint patron of the city, sculpture of P. Rizzo that dates back to the 1600. Another important church is San Giovanni�s, considered the first Christian Church erected ever erected in Sicily, provided with a large underground necropolis. A must to see is the Greek theater of Siracusa, one of the biggest of the Greek world. It has been built with rock by Democopos, the theater is oriented towards the sea and it has an excellent acoustics. Very interesting are also the remains of Apollo Temple (VI century) and Giove Olympic Temple.

 

PORTO PALO DI CAPOPASSERO - MARZAMEMI

Portopalo of Capo Passero, Siracusa province, is the little town of Siracusa province, the town is the furthest south of Sicily (below the parallel of Tunisi). The coastline alternates long beaches, characterized by sand hills and high sea cliff precipitous on the beach. The built-up area has an height of 20 mt above the sea level and it is cut off  in two by the street Vittorio Emanuele that goes east to the Jonio sea and West to the Mediterranean sea. The very hot and dry weather of south-east Sicily becomes milder by the action of the two seas. When it comes the sun it is beautiful to look around the lights that color the sea and these timeless places: diving in this sea means having a bath in an ancient time. Marzamemi: still in Siracusa province. It is a marina village that develops at two meters on the sea level on a little promontory. In the area, at the end of the 1800, it has been built a port of call near the pre-existent tuna-nets and near the seventeenth century manor house of Villadorata princes.

 

NOTO - PATRIMONIO DELL' UNESCO E CULLA DEL BAROCCO

Among the many artistic beauties of Noto we notice San Francesco church ascribed to Vincenzo Sinatra, Benedictine Monastery and Santa Chiara church. Inside the church there is a superb Madonna with the Holy Child by Antonello Gagini. In the central city hall square, there us the Duomo, the seventeenth Bishop Palaze, the sixteenth Landolina palace and Ducezio palace, today municipal building.
A little bit further we find San Carlo church, and at the end of Vittorio Emanuele Corso, we find San Domenico square, which houses the homonymous church and monastery, the seventeenth city theater and the small Ercole villa with a fountain in the middle of 1100.
At about 9 km from Noto there is Old Noto, the place where it rises the town before the earthquake of 1963. Today it only remains a series of suggestive roads and Golden Door.
Here it is possible to see S. Corrado hermitage, plunged in the vegetation, with the cave where the saint lived.
In Old Noto you can see, in addition, S. Maria della Scala sanctuary, decorated with an Arabian-Norman style arch and font.

 

AVOLA - I LAGHETTI DI AVOLA

Among the monuments of best historical-artistic significance we find Mother church dedicated to S. Nicola of Bari.
This church has a particular �tower� fa�ade enriched by embossed panels, that represent the Seven Sacraments, enhanced by a beautiful portal.
It has a rectangular floor plan divided by columns. Then there is Santa Croce church and S. Giovanni Battista church. In addition SS. Annunziata Church in baroque style and Garibaldi Theater.
Among the minor churches there is the church dedicated to the patron saint Venera, and S. Antonio from Padua church, with prestigious sixteenth stuccos. A must to see are also the archeological remains of Old Avola.
Not to be missed Avola small lakes, a very suggestive natural place
NATURE RESERVE OF VENDICARI
It is formed by a small plot of land along the coastline that goes from Noto to Pachino, the Nature Reserve of Vendicari  is  a real peace and relax oasis for many species of birds, but also for who look for a peace corner by getting away from the chaos of the city.
Vendicari park is a plain characterized by dunes, rock coasts and by three quagmires (Pantano Piccolo, Grande e Roveto) divided one from  the other by dozen meters from the beach. Among the three only Pantano Piccolo in the dry periods, never runs dry thanks to the presence of salty water sources. Pantano Roveto is, on the other hand, the widest and the mouth that links it to the beach is filled in.
By walking in the Reserve you can admire wonderful landscapes. The complex of Sweden castle of the Fourteenth century, the fishermen houses, the establishments for the fish processing and the seventeenth tune net with its high chimney that keeps watching on the Reserve. These are all buildings that take us back in time, when the surrounding coast used to house one of most important port of Siracusa province.

 

AUGUSTA - AGNONE BAGNI - LA BAIA - BRUCOLI

A guided tour of the town, to be complete, must have also the sacred side here represented by the baroque church dedicated to the sacred souls and by the sixteenth mother church dedicated to Maria Ss. Annunziata. The town has got some interesting archeological cues represented by the archeological area of Megara Hyblaea - in a prestigious area inside the town gulf. The little fraction of Agnone Bagni is noteworthy, it is located in the homonymous bay, which houses a large beach with a wide view of the coast till Etna mountainside and the Federico Basilica of Murgo. At last it is important to remember the natural sites of the town represented by the marina village of Brucoli. This bay, well equipped with accommodation facilities, it is located at few km from the town of Augusta, it can mix the wonderful natural beauties like the port-canal created by the stream estuary Porcaria to the historical one like the sixteenth fortification built to defend the platform and the �Castle� represented by a fourteenth and squared tower. The town deserves to be remembered not only for its glorious past, but also for its cultural and tourist attractions.

www.comune.siracusa.it/

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siracusa

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