Long before the Roman Conquest, Siracusa was one of the greatest cities of the world with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, its powerful fleet defeating the Etruscans, battling the Carthaginians and the Athenians for primacy in the Mediterranean, its power and wealth attracting famous Greek intellectuals, Plato, Pindar and Aeschylus.

After the Roman Empire fell, Siracusa was restored to some of its former glory, although smaller and restricted to Ortigia, the island where it originated. Re-conquest by the Normans led to a period of prosperity. The early Renaissance brought another distinct period in art and culture, when Siracusa became the fiefdom of the queens of the Kingdom of Sicily and Naples; this period was followed by the baroque period.

Today, each period is reflected in the culture, architecture and historic sites in and around Ortigia, the historic heart of Siracusa. The island's narrow, medieval lanes make for delightful strolling and among the plethora of interesting places to visit are Siracusa's Duomo, which is the ancient Temple of Athena; a beautiful Greek ampitheatre; the temple of Apollo; centuries-old tunnels, used during World War II as a refuge from Allied bombing and then later, German bombing; and an ancient Jewish miqweh (ritual bath) hidden with stones, when the Jewish population was expelled under Spanish rule, and rediscovered in the Twentieth Century.

(at the Siracusa Duomo)
"What... was really intriguing me? It was the successful harmonization of so many dissimilar elements into a perfected work of art... Start with a Greek temple, embed the whole in a Christian edifice to which you later add a Norman facade... replace the old facade with a devilish graceful Baroque composition. And the whole thing, battered as it is, still smiles and breathes and manifests its virtue for all the world as if it had been thought out by a Leonardo or a Michelangelo."
Lawrence Durrell, Sicilian Carousel