The ancient port city of Siracusa was the main target for our all too brief excursion to South Eastern Sicily, and it was well worth the effort to get there. The heart of the city lies on the island of Ortygia, and as said elsewhere the real charm lies in just wandering around the tight lanes, peeking down narrow alleys and arriving at beautiful squares.

Continuously developed from the 9th Century BC Siracusa was a hugely important Greek colony rivalling Athens, and matching the importance of the Phoenician stronghold of Carthage. Some of the greatest names of Greek civilisation lived here, most notable were Plato, Pindar, Aeschylus and Archimedes. The later actually designed some of the fortifications of the city.

On the main land the ruins at Neopolis were impressive though we only managed a quick peek. We did however investigate the catacombs of San Giovanni, Syracuse is home to the second largest set of Catacombs in the Christian world (after Rome), and they were well worth seeing, especially impressive was the altar from which St Paul is said to have preached.

If there is one monument that best represents Siracusa then it has to be the Duomo (Cathedral in picture), not only does it sit on the most impressive square in the city but also it has developed constantly like the city. It started life as a Greek Temple and the huge Doric columns give it proportion and bulge out from the side they also mark the aisles inside the church. It gives a great sense of how the city has developed showing traces of Greek, Roman, Paleo-Christian, Byzantine, Norman, Arab and Baroque influences. The newly restored façade is a high point of Sicilian Baroque and completes one of the highlights of the city.

Siracusa was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2005 and I was left wondering why it took such a long time to find its way onto the list. ICOMOS states that there is no place that can match Siracusa in terms of its original influence coupled huge array of subsequent development that has turned it into the charming city it is today.