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1. VII Istituto Comprensivo “G.A. COSTANZO” VII ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO “G.A. COSTANZO” A.S. 2013-2014 SYRACUSE COMENIUS PROJECT POLAND, OCTOBER 2013 L e t r a s f o r m a z i o n i d e l t e r r i t o r i o

2. HISTORY Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians around 734 B.C. and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth, exerting influence over the entire Magna Graecia area of which it was the most important city. But, in 212 B.C. Syracuse capitulated and the Romans established total control over Sicily. The Romans divided Sicily into estates for growing grain, and treated the island as an inferior province. Sicily thus entered a long period of cultural decline in which conditions reached such a pitch that there were two slave revolts, both of which were savagely repressed. With the decline of the Romans, followed a long line of conquerors, occupiers and dominators of Syracuse and of Sicily, each of whom left their mark. In the 9th Century, the Arabs conquered the occupying Byzantines and took Sicily. In Ortigia evidence of this era remains in certain quarters of the city in the characteristic layout of the streets. Much later, Frederick II continued the Norman tradition of maintaining authority in Sicily by kingship, commissioned the building of the splendid Maniace Castle which stands today on the furthermost tip of Ortigia. The following "ruling class" of Sicily were the French Angevin whose turbulent dominance of Syracuse and of Sicily was short lived. The succesive Spanish Aragon rule has left traces in architecture in some noble houses. Sicily became part of the Two Sicilies Kingdom until the Italian unification of 1860. At present, Syracuse is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica.

3. The Greek Theatre

4. The theatre is surely one of the most famous of the ancient world: many travellers and landscapists of the XVIII and XIX left numerous descriptions and views about it. Several sources deals with a Greek theatre of Syracuse, by the architect Damocopo so-called Mirylla. The theatre, carved into the rock of the hill Temenite, has a very large cave with 67 rows of steps; divided into nine wedges thanks to eight small staircases and, horizontally, in the middle, from a corridor, called diàzoma. The sidewall, above this diàzoma, characterized by the presence of mouldings, is engraved with Greek inscriptions. The construction technique, the size, the shape of the cave and of the orchestra and also the inscriptions have suggested to some scholars to date the construction of the monument between 238 and 215 BC. The upper part of the cave, built from the 19th step above the diàzoma, was bounded by a wall that was a support for the artificial embankment. Both the orchestra and the area of the scene show traces of subsequent changes, related to the different needs of the technical system and to the use of the theatre over the centuries.

5. The Ear of Dionysius This large limestone cave has a great sound legend attached to it. The story goes that the tyrant Dionysius (ca. 432–367 BC) used this place as a prison. The wedge shape of the cavern causes peoples’ conversations to be amplified at the roof of the cave, 22m above the floor. Supposedly this enabled guards to spy on prisoners by listening to the amplified sound through a small hidden opening at the top of the cave: even when the prisoners spoke in whispers.

6. Roman Amphitheatre

7. The amphitheatre built in Syracuse during the Roman period is the largest in Sicily, and one of the largest in Italy (being slightly smaller than the Arena of Verona). The structure was used for gladiator and animal fights, while the nearby theater was reserved for proper theatrical presentations. Today, only the portion of the Amphitheater carved into the rock remains, while all that was built of stone blocks was dismantled by the Spanish in the 16th century to build fortifications of the island of Ortigia. At the center of the arena a rectangular excavation (covered, in ancient times) contained equipment used for performances. Despite its material damage, the building retains by virtue of its size an aura of majesty and grandeur. Surrounding the amphitheater and on the access road, it is possible to see several ancient sarcophagi, transported here from the necropolis in the area, as well as some remains of houses dating from the Hellenistic period.

8. Altar of Hieron II The altar of Hieron II was built by the "tyrant“ of Syracuse (who reigned from 269 to 216 B.C.) in the third century B.C. This is the largest surviving altar of Greek antiquity. Originally it was surrounded by porticos; in Roman times a garden of trees was planted in the courtyard. On this huge altar it was possible to celebrate grandiose religious ceremonies, with the sacrifice of up to 450 bulls in a single day. This was one way to propitiate the gods but also to remind friends and enemies that Syracuse had plenty of resources. Unfortunately, only the base of this huge structure remains, carved into the rock that rises from the ground to save the excavation of the foundations. Everything else (i.e., the walls of square blocks, columns, access ramps, statues) was demolished by the Spanish, who in the 16th century plundered the ancient Greek and Roman monuments in order to obtain stone to build the fortifications of Ortigia.

9. Il Castello Eurialo The Eurialo Castle is the top of the fortification of the city of Syracuse, whose name seems to allude to the Greek Euryelo. Wanted by Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, it stands on the highest point of 120 metres above sea level of the terrace of district Epipoli. The construction of this imposing military work was realized between 402 and 397 BC in order to protect the city from any attack. The entrance is protected by three moats. Following this path, there are five big towers.

10. Temple of Apollo

11. At the entrance of Ortigia there are the remains of the oldest Doric temple of the Magna Graecia, the Temple of Apollo, dating from the 6th century B.C. It is located on a much lower level than that of the square around it, owing to the accumulation of debris over the centuries, which raised the ground level. The temple had been transformed into a Byzantine church, later converted into a mosque (an inscription in Arabic remains), then returned to the church during the Norman period (there is a lancet window in the cell wall, which shows the level of the soil in the 12th century), and then deconsecrated, partially demolished and turned into a barracks during the Spanish period. Only in 1860, notably, was something found hiding in what was then the barracks, and only between 1938 and 1942 the remains of the temple were freed from the modern additions and at last excavated. The building is conserved in good condition, and, despite having lost most of its columns, still exhibits a long stretch of wall. In one corner, two columns and a fragment of an architrave give an idea of the imposing size of the ancient building. The temple was, as was everything from the same period, covered by decorative, colored terracotta, the remains of which are now on display at the Archaeological Museum “Paolo Orsi”.

12. Il Duomo

13. The city's cathedral is a 5th-century BC Temple dedicated to Athena that was adapted by the Byzantines and then the Normans. To convert the Greek temple to a church wasn't hard: They just punched archways through the cella (the sacred central chamber of the temple) to make it into a nave, and filled in between 19 giant Doric columns from the temple's peristyle to make the outer walls of the aisle... In fact, these ancient columns are embedded into the outer wall of the church. Its baroque facade was realized by the famous architect Andrea Palma.

14. Maniace Castle The Maniace Castle is a citadel and castle in Syracuse. It stands on a large promontory, where it was constructed between 1232 and 1240 by the architect Riccardo da Lentini under the rule of Emperor Frederick II. It bears the name of George Maniakes, the Byzantine general who besieged and took the city in 1038. King Peter III of Aragon resided here with his family in 1288. From 1305 to 1536 the castle was used as residence by numerous queens of Sicily. .

15. Arethusa’s Fountain

16. This curious freshwater fountain has the peculiarity of flowing right to the seashore. In ancient Greek myth, the origin of the spring was attributed to the fate of a nymph, Arethusa, who was transformed by the goddess Artemis into a spring to escape the stalking courtship of the sea god Alpheus (son of Oceanus). He, in despair, was in turn transformed into a river by Zeus and succeeded in this way to finally mix his water with that of Arethusa. The myth probably attempts to explain the brackish taste of the water, due to the infiltration of the bordering sea. This pond also has a second peculiarity: at its center a collection of wild papyrus has grown for millennia, and, together with that of the Ciane/Anapo river, constitutes the only wild papyrus existing in Europe.