Syracuse, Sicily

Though declining slowly through the years, Syracuse maintained the status of capital of the Roman government of Sicily and seat of the

After a period of

Emirate of Sicily

The city was

poet of the 12th century, flourished in the city.

Norman kingdom of Sicily

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In 1038, the Byzantine general

, who was given the city as count. New quarters were built, and the cathedral was restored, as well as other churches.

High medieval period

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In 1194,

, Nava, Montalto.

16th–20th centuries

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The city was struck by two ruinous earthquakes in 1542 and 1693, and a plague in 1729. The 17th century destruction changed the appearance of Syracuse forever, as well as the entire Val di Noto, whose cities were rebuilt along the typical lines of Sicilian Baroque, considered one of the most typical expressions of the architecture of Southern Italy. The spread of cholera in 1837 led to a revolt against the Bourbon government. The punishment was the move of the province capital seat to Noto, but the unrest had not been totally choked, as the Siracusani took part in the Sicilian revolution of 1848.

After the Unification of Italy of 1865, Syracuse regained its status of provincial capital. In the late 19th century, the walls (including Porta Ligny) were demolished and a bridge connecting the mainland to Ortygia island was built. In the following year a railway link was constructed.

Modern history

Syracuse today has about 125,000 inhabitants and numerous attractions for the visitor interested in historical sites (such as the

Geography

Climate

Syracuse experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Snow is infrequent; the last measurable snowfall in the city occurred in December 2014.^[25] Frosts are very rare, with the last one also happening in December 2014 when the temperature dropped to the all-time record low of 0 °C.

A temperature of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F) was registered in Floridia, near Syracuse by the Sicilian Agrometeorological Information Service (SAIS) on 11 August 2021, and is recognized by the World Meteorological Organization as the official record highest temperature in Europe.^[26] Guido Guidi, lieutenant colonel of the Italian Meteorological Service, however, had stated the highest temperature registered in the organizations' stations during the heatwave was 44.4 °C (111.9 °F), at Naval Air Station Sigonella.^[27] Guidi underlines that the reported data by SAIS "is produced directly by the stations and is not subject to any control and validation procedure, neither automatic nor manual. It can therefore report errors due to sensor malfunctions as well as maintenance interventions".^[27]

Government

Demographics

In 2016, there were 122,051^[1] people residing in Syracuse, located in the province of Syracuse, Sicily, of whom 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 18.9 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 16.9 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.1 percent (minors) and 19.9 percent (pensioners). The average age of Syracuse resident is 40 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Syracuse declined by 0.5 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.6 percent. The reason for decline is a population flight to the suburbs, and northern Italy.^[32][33] The current birth rate of Syracuse is 9.75 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2006^[update], 97.9% of the population was of Italian descent. The largest immigrant group came from other European nations (particularly those from Poland, and the United Kingdom): 0.6%, North Africa (mostly Tunisian): 0.5%, and South Asia: 0.4%.

Tourism

Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica

UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Greek theatre of Syracuse
Criteria	Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	1200
Inscription	2005 (29th Session)
Area	898.46 ha
Buffer zone	5,519.4 ha

Since 2005, the entire city of Syracuse, along with the

• The city walls
• The Temple of Apollo, at Piazza Emanuele Pancali, adapted to a church in Byzantine times and to a mosque under Arab rule.
• The
  Alpheus, was turned into a spring by Artemis and appeared here.^[35]
• The Greek Theatre, whose cavea is one of the largest ever built by the ancient Greeks: it has 67 rows, divided into nine sections with eight aisles. Only traces of the scene and the orchestra remain. The edifice (still used today) was modified by the Romans, who adapted it to their different style of spectacles, including also circus games. Near the theatre are the latomìe, stone quarries, also used as prisons in ancient times. The most famous latomìa is the Orecchio di Dionisio ("Ear of Dionysius").
• The Roman amphitheatre. It was partly carved out from the rock. In the centre of the area is a rectangular space which was used for the scenic machinery.
• The Tomb of Archimede, in the Grotticelli Necropolis. Decorated with two Doric columns.
• The Temple of Olympian Zeus, about 3 kilometres (2 miles) outside the city, built around the 6th century BC.

Buildings of the Christian period

• Corinthian columns, and statues by Ignazio Marabitti. The interior houses a 12th-13th-century marble font, a silver statue of St Lucy by Pietro Rizzo (1599), a ciborium by Luigi Vanvitelli, and a statue of the Madonna della Neve ("Madonna of the Snow", 1512) by Antonello Gagini
  .
• Basilica of Santa Lucia Extra moenia: a Byzantine church built (after Norman rebuilt), according to tradition, in the same place of the martyrdom of the saint in 303 AD. The current appearance is from the 15th–16th centuries. The most ancient parts still preserved include the portal, the three half-circular apses and the first two orders of the belfry. Under the church are the Catacombs of St. Lucy. For this church Caravaggio painted the Burial of St. Lucy.

• Madonna delle Lacrime: (Shrine of the Virgin of Tears) 20th century Catholic basilica.
• San Benedetto: 16th century church, restored after 1693. It houses a painting depicting Death of Saint Benedict by the Caravaggisti Mario Minniti.
• Chiesa della Concezione (14th century, rebuilt in the 18th century), with the annexed Benedictine convent.
• San Cristoforo: 14th century church, rebuilt in 18th-century.
• San Giovanni Battista: 14th century church.
• Mikvah
  ) dating to prior to the expulsion of Jews in 1492
• San Filippo Neri: 17th-century facade and interior reconstructed in 18th-century
• San Francesco all'Immacolata: church with a convex façade intermingled by columns and pilaster strips. It housed an ancient celebration, the Svelata ("Revelation"), in which an image of the Madonna was unveiled at dawn of 29 November.
• San Giovanni Evangelista: basilica church built by the Normans and destroyed in 1693. Only partially restored, it was erected over an ancient crypt of the martyr San Marciano, later destroyed by the Arabs. The main altar is Byzantine. It includes the Catacombs of San Giovanni, featuring a maze of tunnels and passages, with thousands of tombs and several frescoes.
• San Giuseppe: 18th-century octagonal church, in disrepair
• Santa Lucia alla Badia: Baroque sanctuary church built after the 1693 earthquake.
• Santa Maria dei Miracoli
  : 14th century church.
• San Martino: 6th-century church, 14th-century facade, 18th-century interiors
• San Paolo Apostolo: 18th century church.
• Spirito Santo: 18th-century church.
• Church of the Jesuit College, a majestic, Baroque building.

Other notable buildings

• Castello Maniace, constructed between 1232 and 1240, is an example of the military architecture of Frederick II's reign. It is a square structure with circular towers at each of the four corners. The most striking feature is the pointed portal, decorated with polychrome marbles.
• Archaeological Museum with collections including findings from the mid-Bronze Age to 5th century BC.
• Palazzo Lanza Buccheri (16th century).
• Palazzo Bellomo (12th century), which contains an art museum that houses Antonello da Messina's Annunciation (1474).
• Palazzo Montalto (14th century), which conserves the old façade from the 14th century, with a pointed portal.
• Archbishop's Palace (17th century, modified in the following century). It houses the Alagonian Library, founded in the late 18th century.
• Ionic
  temple of the 5th century BC.
• Palazzo Francica Nava, with parts of the original 16th century building surviving.
• Palazzo Beneventano del Bosco, originally built in the Middle Ages but extensively modified between 1779 and 1788. It has a pleasant internal court.
• Palazzo Migliaccio (15th century), with notable lava inlay decorations.
• The Senate Palace, housing in the court an 18th-century
  coach
  .
• Castle of Euryalos, built 9 kilometres (6 miles) outside the city by Dionysius the Elder and which was one of the most powerful fortresses of ancient times. It had three moats with a series of underground galleries which allowed the defenders to remove the materials the attackers could use to fill them.
• Mikveh: a bath used for the purpose of
  ritual immersion in Judaism
  , built during the Byzantine era. It is situated in the Giudecca: the ancient Jewish Ghetto of Syracuse.
• Monument to the Italians Fallen in Africa, Siracusa

Famous people

• Archimedes, classical Greek mathematician, physicist and engineer
• Antiochus of Syracuse, a Greek historian
• Achaeus of Syracuse, a Greek tragedian
• pastoral poetry
• Saint Lucy, Roman martyr
• Pope Stephen III
• Ibn Hamdis, Sicilian Arab poet
• Vincenzo Mirabella (1570-1624), humanist and pioneer of archaeology
• Claudio Schifano (born 1953), contemporary artist of informal painting
• Ignazio Belluardo (born 1986), racing driver
• Salvatore Tavano (born 1980), racing driver

Sports

See also: Sport in Sicily

Syracuse is home to association football club

A.S.D. Città di Siracusa, the latest reincarnation of several clubs dating back to 1924. The common feature is the azure shirts, hence the nickname Azzurri. Siracusa play at the Stadio Nicola De Simone

with an approximate capacity between 5,000 and 6,000.

See also

• Cassibile (village)
• Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily
• Malèna – a 2000 romantic comedy-drama film starring Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro was mostly produced in Syracuse
• Peloponnesian League
• Sicilian Wars
• Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights
• Siracusa railway station

Notes

1. Modern Greek: Συρακούσες, romanized: Syrakoúses, IPA: [siraˈkuses]
   .

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". demo.istat.it. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
2. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
3. ISTAT
   .
4. ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
5. ^ "Syracusan, adj. and n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1919
6. ^ "† Syracusian, adj. and n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1919
7. ^
   Perseus Project
8. ^ "BBC – History – Archimedes".
9. ISBN 978-0-674-99201-6
   .
10. ^ Marcus Tullius Cicero (1903). "Against Verres". In Yonge, C. D. (ed.). The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero. London: George Bell & Sons. 2.4.52.
11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-970761-4
    .
12. ^ "Acts Facts: Syracuse". SimplyBible.com. 8 January 2008. Archived from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
13. ^ Victor Bérard, Les phéniciens et l'Odyssée, Paris: Armand Colin, tome 2, p.515
14. ^ Vibius Sequester (1778). "Tyraca". De Fluminibus Fontibus Lacubus Nemoribus Paludibus Montibus Gentibus quorum apud poeta mentio fit. apud Amandum König. p. 287.
15. Meineke, Augustus, ed. (1849). Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorvm quae svpersvnt
    . Vol. Prior. Impensis G. Reimeri. pp. 592–593.
16. ^ Epicharmi Fragmenta. apud Vincentium Loosjes. 1834. p. 111.
17. ISBN 978-0-500-28877-1
    .
18. ^ Herodotus, Histories, book 7, chap. 155
19. ^ Servus, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), ed. Sir William Smith et. al.
20. ^ Aristotle's Politics 5.1312b
21. ^ Xenophon. Anabasis, book 1, chapter 2, IX
22. ^ . J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, 1958 Edition, pp. Vol I, 254, 327, 410; Vol II p. 171
23. ^ Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943 by Carlo D'Este, pg. 148
24. ^ "Operation Husky, Sicily 1943". olive-drab.com. 12 April 2008.
25. ^ Peppe Caridi (31 December 2014). "Storica nevicata a Siracusa: città imbiancata con 0 °C, non-era mai successo prima [FOTO e VIDEO]". MeteoWeb.
26. ^ "WMO is monitoring potential new temperature records". public.wmo.int. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
27. ^ ^{a b} di Bartolo, Isabella (11 August 2021). "Caldo record: a Siracusa 48,8 gradi, mai una temperatura così alta in Europa" (in Italian). la Repubblica. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
28. ^ "Profilo climatico dell'Italia: Siracusa" (in Italian). Ente per la Nuove tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
29. ^ "Syracuse, Italy – Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast". Weather Atlas. Yu Media Group. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
30. ^ "16464: Siracusa (Italy)". ogimet.com. OGIMET. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
31. ^ "Temperature estreme in Toscana/Siracusa" (in Italian). Temperature estreme in Siracusa. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
32. ^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". Demo.istat.it. Archived from the original on 9 July 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
33. ^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". Demo.istat.it. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
34. ^ "Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica". UNESCO. 8 January 2008.
35. ^ Cord, David (2023). The Spring of Arethusa. p. 7-9.

Further reading

See also: Bibliography of the history of Syracuse, Sicily

• Dummett, Jeremy (2015). Syracuse City of Legends: A Glory of Sicily (Paperback). London: I. B. Tauris.
  ISBN 978-1-78453-306-9
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Siracusa.

• Syracuse (Italy) travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Coins from ancient Syracuse and Sicily
• Livius.org: History of Syracuse Archived 10 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Photos of Ortigia in Syracuse Archived 15 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine