The Neapolis

Legends and magic echoes in the Latomie of Syracuse

The latomie are found in the northern part of the Neapolis Archaeological Park. These quarries were used in Greek and Roman times to extract the stone blocks used for the construction of temples and monuments. Their name comes from the Greek word latomìai, formed by the noun lytos meaning stone and the verb témnein, to cut.
Following the Second Sicilian Expedition in 413 BC, a hard and ferocious battle between Athens and Syracuse was fought, and the Latomie were used to imprison the defeated Athenian soldiers.
There were over seven thousand prisoners of war. On the walls of these rocky ravines it is still possible to see holes probably used to hang the chains of prisoners, who were immobilised inside these inhospitable rooms.
They were freezing cold in winter and hot in summer, and were equivalent to a death sentence for the slaves. The mysterious fascination of these places ignited the imagination of intellectuals from every period, from Cicero , who defined the Latomie of Syracuse as the “grandiose, magnificent work of kings and tyrants”, to Salvatore Quasimodo , inevitably including the main names of the Grand Tour , such as the painter Jean-Pierre Houël , for whom the Latomie of Syracuse were one of the obligatory stops on a trip to Sicily. The largest and most famous is the Latomia del Paradiso, adjacent to the theatre and the Altar of Hieron.
Vista Latomie del ParadisoInside, there are some caves on the north-west side, including the Ear of Dionysius, a grotto with a curious S-shaped plan and an ogival arch vault .
A modern gallery connects the Latomia del Paradiso with the nearby Latomia dell’Intagliatella, from which you can access, through an arch in the rock, the Latomia di Santa Venera, whose rich subtropical vegetation makes it particularly picturesque.
These traces of an underground Syracuse extend below the urban city on the surface. There is poetic contrast between the mysterious darkness of the imprisonment and toil of the Latomie and the luminous and serene harmony of the ruins of ancient civilisations.

King Hyblon’s kingdom: Pantalica, between history and legend

Temple of Apollo

The cultural significance of tragedy

Neapolis from past to present

Ortygia. Venus rising from the waters of the port

The Roman Amphitheatre

The Altar of Hieron II: Blood and fire place

Legends and magic echoes in the Latomie of Syracuse

The Senatorial Palace

The Greek Theatre of Syracuse

The functions of Castello Maniace

Giudecca, the hidden Jewish heart of Syracuse

Syracuse during the tyranny of Dionysius

The catacombs of San Giovanni

Traces of Christianity in Syracuse

Pantalica: where nature and history merge

The Church of San Giovanni alle Catacombe

The Ear of Dionysius and the Grotta dei Cordari

Roman Syracuse, a military power thanks to the genius of Archimedes

Castello Maniace

The Cathedral of Syracuse

The Euryalus Fortress

Piazza del Duomo, a sacred place of the ancient Greeks

The architecture of the Piazza

The Jews, a wandering people

The Culture of Pantalica

The Church of St. Lucia to the Abbey

Inside the Cathedral of Ortygia

Where seas and civilisations meet

The Museion and the Grotta del Ninfeo

The Spanish fortification

The Gladiator performances

Crypt of San Marciano

The Athenaion of the tyrant Gelon

The Venationes

Byzantine Pantalica

The Dionysian Walls: a masterpiece of Greek engineering