Ortigia

The Church of St. Lucia to the Abbey

The Church of Santa Lucia alla Badia was originally a monastery.
The building was entirely destroyed by the earthquake of 1693 and later rebuilt at the behest of the Mother Abbess of the Cistercian order (A monastic order following the Rule of St. Benedict).
The Church and the Cistercian convent dedicated to St. Lucia had an important role in the city’s worship, both for their location in the heart of Ortygia, and for the feast of St. Lucia in May , instituted to commemorate the patron saint’s miraculous intervention during the famine of 1646, when she led two ships loaded with grain into the port, putting an end to the Syracusans’ long hunger. The façade, facing the square, is made of light-coloured limestone and consists of two superimposed levels separated by a trabeation and a wrought iron balcony with a balustrade with curved balusters.
La Chiesa di S. Lucia alla Badia The lower level has a sumptuous Baroque portal flanked by Solomonic columns  supporting the pediment, decorated with symbols of the Saint’s martyrdom. On the two side sections, enclosed within cornices, stand the coats of arms of the kings of Spain. The upper level, enriched by pilaster strips in pseudo-Corinthian style, is inspired by Rococo.
The apse behind the main altar has on temporary display the large painting of the “ Burial of St. Lucia ” painted in 1608 by Caravaggio during his stay in Syracuse.

The cultural significance of tragedy

The Ear of Dionysius and the Grotta dei Cordari

Castello Maniace

The Spanish fortification

The Dionysian Walls: a masterpiece of Greek engineering

Traces of Christianity in Syracuse

Ortygia. Venus rising from the waters of the port

The functions of Castello Maniace

The Roman Amphitheatre

The Gladiator performances

The Venationes

The Greek Theatre of Syracuse

The Euryalus Fortress

Where seas and civilisations meet

The Church of St. Lucia to the Abbey

The Jews, a wandering people

The Cathedral of Syracuse

The Church of San Giovanni alle Catacombe

The catacombs of San Giovanni

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

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

Syracuse during the tyranny of Dionysius

The Museion and the Grotta del Ninfeo

Pantalica: where nature and history merge

The architecture of the Piazza

Temple of Apollo

Piazza del Duomo, a sacred place of the ancient Greeks

Giudecca, the hidden Jewish heart of Syracuse

Byzantine Pantalica

Legends and magic echoes in the Latomie of Syracuse

Neapolis from past to present

Crypt of San Marciano

The Senatorial Palace

Inside the Cathedral of Ortygia

The Athenaion of the tyrant Gelon

The Altar of Hieron II: Blood and fire place

The Culture of Pantalica