Fascinating past......ugly present
A world of caution before suggesting sites in Ortigia.
The island is abandoned and Godforsaken as Siracusa and Sicily are. The local sport, following a national tradition, is squeezing and cheating tourists.
Prices of anything are incredibly inflated (sometimes more expensive than Milan or Rome); awful, cookie-cutter menus; a 5€ ($6.5 US dollars) cover charge or a 2€ charge for extra onion in a salada in restaurants or a 3.5 € small bottle of water in hotels ( that you can buy for .20€ in a supermarket) are not rare.
My advice: stay strictly the necessary, book in a hotel where breakfast is included, lunch lightly and dine in the same restaurant outside Ortigia, if you can find a decent one.Also, avoid any kind of tours or wasting time in obtaining information from locals: they all seem to have just arrived yesterday to the area.
That is the ugly present. Now the bright past. Do visit:
-- Temple of Apollo, a landmark in Greek architecture that set a standard for generations to come;
-- Chiesa di San Pietro Apostolo, located near the Temple of Apollo in Via San Pietro 18, tells you the story of the island;
-- Duomo square with: the Cathedral and its Greek columns; the Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia where Caravaggio's last painting is on display and the entrance to Ipogeo Piazza Duomo, nearby the Cathedral, a tunnel system leading to your next stop;
-- Fontana di Arethusa, one of three spots in Europe where papyrus grows, on your way to..
--Castello Maniace, the medieval fortress, in the very tip of Ortigia;
--If you have the opportunity, Museo del Papiro Corrado Basile (Via Nizza, 14), a small very well organised and kept institution describing an important episode in Ortigia history. read more