Located about 500m east of the archaeological park, Syracuse's archaeological museum claims one of Sicily's largest and most interesting collections of antiquities. Allow at least a couple of hours to investigate its various sprawling sections, which chart the area's prehistory, as well as the city's development from foundation to the late Roman period.
Museo Archeologico Paolo Orsi
Top choice in Syracuse
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Parco Archeologico della Neapolis
0.49 MILES
For the classicist, Syracuse's real attraction is this archaeological park, home to the pearly Teatro Greco. Constructed in the 5th century BC and rebuilt…
1.24 MILES
Built on the skeleton of a 5th-century BC Greek temple to Athena (note the Doric columns still visible inside and out), Syracuse's 7th-century cathedral…
0.66 MILES
The highlight of the Neapolis archaeological area is the Teatro Greco, a masterpiece of classical architecture that could accommodate up to 16,000 people…
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1.23 MILES
Syracuse's showpiece square is a masterpiece of baroque town planning. A long, rectangular piazza flanked by flamboyant palazzi, it sits on what was once…
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17.51 MILES
Abandoned for decades, this 18th-century palazzo found its saviour in French journalist and documentary filmmaker Jean-Louis Remilleux, who purchased the…
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Basilica Cattedrale di San Nicolò
17.46 MILES
Pride of place in Noto goes to San Nicolò Cathedral, a baroque beauty that had to undergo extensive renovation after its dome collapsed during a 1996…
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17.5 MILES
About halfway along Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the graceful Piazza Municipio, flanked by Noto's most dramatic buildings. To the north, sitting in stately…
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14.53 MILES
On a huge plateau above the Valle dell'Anapo is the site of Sicily's most important Iron and Bronze Age necropolis, the Necropoli di Pantalica, with more…
Nearby Syracuse attractions
1. Basilica & Catacombe di San Giovanni
0.13 MILES
The city's most extensive catacombs lie beneath the Basilica di San Giovanni, itself a pretty, truncated church that served as the city's cathedral in the…
2. Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime
0.13 MILES
Supposedly modelled on the shape of a tear drop, the 102m-high spire of this church dominates modern Syracuse's skyline. The church itself houses a statue…
3. Basilica Santuario di Santa Lucia al Sepolcro
0.37 MILES
This 17th-century basilica occupies the site where Syracuse's patron saint, Lucia, an aristocratic girl who devoted herself to saintliness after being…
0.46 MILES
This 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre was originally used for gladiatorial combats and horse races.
6. Parco Archeologico della Neapolis
0.49 MILES
For the classicist, Syracuse's real attraction is this archaeological park, home to the pearly Teatro Greco. Constructed in the 5th century BC and rebuilt…
0.54 MILES
It was out of this deep, precipitous limestone quarry that stone for the ancient city was extracted. Riddled with catacombs and filled with citrus and…
0.54 MILES
West of the Roman amphitheatre is the 3rd-century-BC Ara di Gerone II. This monolithic sacrificial altar was a kind of giant abattoir where 450 oxen could…