Page 431 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

IT AL Y  429

Fishing boats moored in the picturesque harbor of Syracuse
z Mount Etna Admiral Nelson once stayed. and Normans. The historic
At Ortigia’s farthest point is medieval core of the city
Catania. £ to Linguaglossa or the Castello Maniace, built focuses on the Via Atenea. The
Randazzo; Circumetnea (095-541 250).
@ to Nicolosi. n Via G Garibaldi 63, by Frederick II around 1239, 13th-century abbey complex of
Nicolosi (095-91 44 88). and the Galleria Regionale Santo Spirito houses stuccoes
di Palazzo Bellomo, where by Giacomo Serpotta (1695).
One of the world’s largest active Caravaggio’s Burial of St. Lucy
volcanoes, Mount Etna was (1608) may be seen. Environs
thought by the Romans to have One of the most important South of Agrigento, the Valley
been the forge of Vulcan, the examples of ancient theater of Temples is the principal
god of fire. To view it in comfort, architecture, the 5th-century BC sacred site of ancient Akragas.
take the Circumetnea railway, Greek Theater has a 67-tier The mainly 5th- and 6th-century
which runs around the base auditorium or cavea. The great ruins rank among the most
from Catania to Riposto. Greek playwrights staged their impressive complexes of ancient
Now a protected area, about works here. Greek buildings outside Greece.
58 sq km (22 sq miles) in At Tyche, north of Syracuse, Museo Regionale Archeologico
size, Etna offers numerous the Museo Archeologico houses outstanding artifacts
opportunities for excursions. Regionale Paolo Orsi houses an from the temples and the city.
One of the most popular is important collection of artifacts
from Zafferana to the Valle excavated from local digs, E Museo Regionale
del Bove. Guided hikes can which date from the Paleolithic Archeologico
also be taken up to the large to the Byzantine era. Contrada San Nicola, Viale Panoramica.
craters at the summit. Tel 0922-40 15 65. Open daily. &
E Galleria Regionale di
Palazzo Bellomo
x Syracuse Palazzo Bellomo, Via Capodieci 16.
Tel 0931-695 11. Open Tue–Sat, Sun am.
* 118,000. g £ @ n Via Maes-
tranza 33 (0931-464 255). ( Wed. E Museo Archeologico
Regionale Paolo Orsi
The most important and Viale Teocrito 66. Tel 0931-46 40 22.
powerful Greek city from 400 Open Tue–Sat, Sun am.
to 211 BC when it fell to the
Romans, Syracuse (Siracusa in c Agrigento
Italian) was also regarded as
the most beautiful. * 57,000. g £ @ n Via
The peninsula of Ortigia Empedocle 73 (0922-203 91). ( Fri.
is the hub of the old city. A
highlight is the 18th-century Modern Agrigento occupies the
Duomo. Its Baroque facade site of Akragas, an important
masks the Temple of Athena city of the ancient Greeks.
(5th century BC), which has Following the Roman conquest
been absorbed into it. Nearby of 210 BC, Agrigento was
is the Palazzo Beneventano renamed and successively The Temple of Concord (c.430 BC) in the
del Bosco (1778–88) where occupied by Byzantines, Arabs, Valley of Temples, Agrigento

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