Ortigia

Inside the Cathedral of Ortygia

Today, the church is a three-nave basilica. The main nave has a wooden roof hidden by a coffered ceiling, while the side naves are covered by stonework barrel vaults.
Along the right nave, the rhythm of the Doric columns is interrupted by a series of side chapels covered with marble and embellished with Sicilian Baroque stuccoes.
The chapel of the baptistery houses a baptismal font and some mosaics from the Norman period; the chapel of Santa Lucia is where the statue of St. Lucia is kept; the chapel of the Sacrament features a ciborium by Luigi Vanvitelli and a Greek krater (large vase) transformed into a baptismal font brought to the church in the sixth century AD; finally, at the end of the nave is the chapel of the Crucifix, which houses a panel (attributed to Antonello da Messina) depicting St. Zosimus . In 1659 Giovanni Vermexio created a magnificent Baroque altar in the presbytery.Navata CentraleThe altar table consists of a monolith from the ancient temple of Athena, while in the background a painting depicting the Nativity of Mary is the work of Agostino Scilla.
At the end of the left nave there is a Byzantine apse where La Madonna della neve by Antonello Gagini from 1512 is kept.

The cultural significance of tragedy

Pantalica: where nature and history merge

The Greek Theatre of Syracuse

The functions of Castello Maniace

Where seas and civilisations meet

Castello Maniace

Syracuse during the tyranny of Dionysius

The Culture of Pantalica

The Church of St. Lucia to the Abbey

The catacombs of San Giovanni

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

Legends and magic echoes in the Latomie of Syracuse

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

Neapolis from past to present

Piazza del Duomo, a sacred place of the ancient Greeks

The Gladiator performances

The Cathedral of Syracuse

The Dionysian Walls: a masterpiece of Greek engineering

Temple of Apollo

Giudecca, the hidden Jewish heart of Syracuse

The Church of San Giovanni alle Catacombe

The Roman Amphitheatre

The Museion and the Grotta del Ninfeo

The Venationes

The Jews, a wandering people

The Euryalus Fortress

The Senatorial Palace

The Athenaion of the tyrant Gelon

The Spanish fortification

Byzantine Pantalica

Traces of Christianity in Syracuse

Crypt of San Marciano

Ortygia. Venus rising from the waters of the port

Inside the Cathedral of Ortygia

The architecture of the Piazza

The Ear of Dionysius and the Grotta dei Cordari

The Altar of Hieron II: Blood and fire place