THE ANCIENT MARKET OF ORTYGIA

The 10th edition of the International Prize for Mediterranean Documentary and Reportage will be held on 9-16 October 2005 in the historic centre of Syracuse, at the Ancient Covered Market on the Isle of Ortygia, at 2 Via Trento.

Ortygia, the part of the historic city of Syracuse that stretches out into the sea, in ancient times an island and the heart of the city, is reached by crossing the monumental Ponte Umbertino. Going along the main streets that unwind amidst the Renaissance and Baroque forms of the noble palazzi, the appeal of the alleyways is strong, with their pungent mix of odours and their liveliness heard in the people’s voices. In the vicinity of the ancient market of Ortygia emerge traces of the glorious past of this marvellous land and the origins of its people. Remarkable remains such as the Temple of Apollo, the first Doric style sacred building built in Sicily, which dates from 500 BC.

AAT Syracuse

SYRACUSE

On 15 July 2005, Syracuse was inscribed by UNESCO on its “World Heritage List” as a “significant example of a property of outstanding universal value”.

Luminous is the sea in the Gulf of Syracuse, where goods have been arriving from all over the East since Antiquity (see the Institute of the Papyrus and the Museum of the Papyrus) and crucial battles have been fought against distant peoples. Syracuse has been a Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Norman city, and there are significant traces remaining from every period.

According to legend, the fresh water gushing from the Fountain of Aretusa is the nymph Arethusa, who was turned into a spring to escape the amorous pursuit of the hunter Alpheus. What is certain is that Syracuse was founded by the Corinthians in 734 BC. Adjacent to the coast, the initial indigenous settlement, the small isle of Ortygia – today connected to Sicily by two bridges – became the nucleus of the subsequent one, with theTemple ofApollo, Temple of Zeus, and Temple of Athena, later incorporated into the Cathedral. With Dionysius’s ascent to power (405 BC), Syracuse became one of the most important centres of the Mediterranean, dominated by the EuryalusCastle, a stronghold measuring 15,000 square metres, an extraordinary example of Greek military engineering. The tyrant held prisoners in an artificial cave 65 metres long, discovering out their secrets thanks to the echoes – the Ear of Dionysius (as Caravaggio later called it).
In the ancient Neapolis quarter there are magnificent monumental buildings such as the 5th-century Greek Theatre, the maximum edifice of Greek theatre architecture, which still fills up each year with spectators sitting on the same seats as those who once watched the “premiere” performance of Aeschylus’s “The Persians”.
The arrival of the Romans left its mark with the Altar of Hieron II, a huge 198-metre altar used for public sacrifices. Traces of the Roman presence can be seen in the Grotticelli Necropolis (named after the tombs dug into the rock) and the Roman Gymnasium (1st century AD) on the Isle of Ortygia, a monumental complex that includes a theatre, a quadriporticus, and a temple. The Roman amphitheatre, a magnificent construction from the imperial age (3rd century AD) was built in the area of the Neapolis.
In the year 535 Syracuse became part of the Byzantine Empire, and for five years it was its capital.Remains of precious Byzantine paintings can be found in the small underlying Santa Lucia oratory, named after the Syracusan virgin venerated all over the world, whose torture included having her eyes torn out.
The Arab conquest of 870 was followed by the Normal conquest (1086). Charged with defending the eastern side of Sicily, Frederick II had the square-plan ManiaceCastle, with cylindrical corner towers, built (1232-40); it is entered through a splendid portal that leads into the magnificent Sala della Regina (Queen’s Room) .

City of Syracuse

SOUTH-EASTERN SICILY

In June 2002 UNESCO acknowledged the exceptional nature of the historic, architectural, and urbanistic values of the “Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto” in south-eastern Sicily: Caltagirone, Catania, Militello in Val di Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa, and Scicli. Within this territory identified by UNESCO, inscribed on the “World Heritage List”, a new system of relationships that has led to the creation of the South-Eastern Cultural District began to develop.
For the Val di Noto this can be considered a case of rediscovered identity. In fact, the district has its roots in the cultural phenomenon of the late Baroque reconstruction that redesigned this territory in the late 18th century. More in depth, it draws on millenary historic events. Suffice it to think of the extraordinary archaeological areas of Syracuse, Ragusa and Catania, the network of museums (the Paolo Orsi and the Galleria Bellomo in Syracuse, the Museum of Camarina and that of Ragusa, and the numerous Hyblean ethno-anthropological museums, starting with the Museum House of Antonino Uccello at Palazzolo Acreide), the ancient theatres (the Greek Theatre in Syracuse, the Roman Theatre in Catania, the Roman Amphitheatre in Syracuse, and the Greek Theatre in Palazzolo), the modern theatres (the Bellini in Catania, the theatres of Noto, Modica, Vittoria, Sangiorgi, and the Repertory Theatre of Catania), the great castles that have already been totally restructured (the Maniace Castle in Syracuse, the Ursino Castle in Catania, and the Donnafugata Castle in Ragusa). Not to mention the marvellous nature reserves (Pantalica, Vendicari, Cava Grande, and Simeto) and the refined and ancient food and wine tradition.
The places of the South-East are places of memory and roots, of historic pride, and of identity as much as of innovation. It is, in fact, starting precisely from its cultural heritage and related tourism that Sicily today is enjoying an authentic rebirth.

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