ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN HAAKE


SMART TRAVELLER


ON THE TR AI L SYRACUSE


Follow in the footsteps of Indiana Jones’s latest fi lming locations with an architecture and archaelogy tour in Sicily’s baroque southeast city


1 CATACOMBS OF ST JOHN


Start your adventure at the ruined Basilica di San Giovanni in the heart of Syracuse, where crooked steps lead down to a subterranean labyrinth fi lled with more than 10,000 burial chambers cut into the walls of the cool, dank earth. Creep through the tight, arched tunnels to peer at early fourth- to fi fth-century Christian frescoes under torchlight, as water drips from the rock above you and cobwebs drift in the stifl ed breeze. kairos-web.com


2 EAR OF DIONYSIUS


Nearby, the vast Neapolis Archaeological Park is home to a dozen sites spanning four millennia. Trails snake between orange trees to this 75ft high fi ssure in an ancient quarry wall — one of the Syracuse fi lming locations in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny movie, released in June 2023. Legend says the acoustics of this manmade cave, shaped like an ear, were designed to amplify the screams of labouring prisoners. visitsicily.info


3 ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE


Staying within the park, don’t miss the low-set ruins of the Roman amphitheatre — the third largest of its kind in Italy. Although trees and grassy knolls now encroach on the amphitheatre’s territory, the oval shape of the site is still clearly defi ned. Blocks of white rock, cut directly out of the earth, convey the magnitude of the original site, where gladiators battled thousands of years ago. parchiarcheologici.regione.sicilia.it


4 LA SALUMERIA


Cross the bridge to the baroque island district of Ortygia and fi nd a table at this restaurant and deli, among potted plants in the small, sun-blushed square. It’s within earshot of calls from a street market where traders have set out their stalls for centuries, selling edible treasures from the land and sea. Before leaving, browse the deli for Sicilian products; the speciality here is platters of cold cuts, cheeses, olives, artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. Piazza Cesare Battisti, 4


5 TEMPLE OF APOLLO Walk off your lunch with a stroll through Ortygia’s narrow streets and open piazzas, stopping at the remains of the Greek Temple of Apollo. The sixth-century BC site is too fragile for visitors to properly explore, but let your eyes wander over its contours from the vantage point at the top of Piazza Emanuele Pancali. A medieval wall betrays the temple’s later lives as a mosque and a church, but a number of the impressive original columns remain. Largo XXV Luglio


6 MANIACE CASTLE


End your quest at the southernmost tip of Ortygia, where Maniace Castle has stood since the 13th century. The site has been expanded and modifi ed over the centuries; in its role in the latest Indiana Jones fi lm, it served as a palace, a prison and a lighthouse point. Walk along the ramparts for a cannon’s-eye view over the Ionian Sea, watching the sun set to the sound of waves crashing on the rocks below. aditusculture.com DOM TULETT


JUNE 2023 23


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