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History
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Syracuse first assumed its almost mythic eminence under
Gelon
, the tyrant of Gela, who moved his rule to the city in 485 BC to increase his power: it was he who began work on the city's Temple of Athena, later to become the Christian cathedral of Syracuse. It was an unparalleled period of Greek prosperity in Sicily, while the extent of a wider Siracusean influence was indicated by the defeat of the Etruscans (474 BC), who had been causing trouble for Greek towns on mainland Italy. It was a growing influence which troubled Athens, and in 415 BC a fleet of 134 triremes was dispatched to take Syracuse - only to be blockaded and the fleet destroyed. Those who weren't slaughtered as they ran were imprisoned in the city's stone quarries.
Under Dionysius the Elder , the city became a great military base, the tyrant building the first of the Euryalus forts and erecting strong city walls. As the leading European power, Syracuse more or less retained its prime position for two hundred years until it was attacked by the Romans in 215 BC. The subsequent two-year siege was made long and hazardous for the attackers by the mechanical devices contrived by Archimedes - who, as the Romans finally forced victory, was killed by a foot soldier. From this time, Syracuse withered in importance. It became, briefly, a major religious centre in the early Christian period, but for the most part its days as a power were done: it was sacked by the Saracens and most of its later Norman buildings fell in the 1693 earthquake. Passed by until this century, the city suffered a double blow in World War II when it was bombed by the Allies and then, after its capture, by the Luftwaffe in 1943. Luckily, the extensive ancient remains were little damaged, although decay and new development have reduced the attractions of the modern city. It's an essential stop on any tour of the island, but it's getting daily more difficult to picture the beautiful city which Plutarch wept over when he heard of its fall to the Romans.
Some
orientation
pointers are useful. The original Greek settlement was on the fortified island of
Ortygia
, compact enough to see in a good half-day's stroll and almost completely late medieval in character. The Greek city spread onto the mainland in four distinct areas:
Achradina
, over the water from Ortygia, was the city's commercial and administrative centre and today encompasses the new streets that radiate out from the train station;
Tyche
, to the northeast, was residential and now holds the archeological museum and the city's extensive catacombs;
Neapolis
, to the west, is the site of the fascinating archeological park based on ancient Syracuse's public and social amenities; while
Epipolae
stretches way to the northwest, to the city's outer defensive walls and the Euryalus fort. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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