Syracuse and the south-east

The south-east is organised by limestone, water and the long reach of Syracuse. Ortigia's harbours face the Ionian Sea; inland, the Anapo and Calcinara cut ravines into the Hyblaean plateau; farther south, wetlands, low coastal plains and river mouths preserve archaeological and ecological landscapes that cannot be separated.

Pantalica records communities that preceded Greek Syracuse. Akrai and Eloro show how the Greek city projected power across its territory, while the Villa del Tellaro belongs to a Roman rural world. Rock-cut churches, catacombs and reused caves add Byzantine and medieval layers to a landscape already shaped by quarries and necropolises.

The earthquake of 1693 changed the urban history of the entire region, but it did not produce one uniform Baroque city. Noto was rebuilt on a new site; Ragusa divided between Ibla and Superiore; Modica and Scicli negotiated ravines, slopes and older neighbourhoods; Palazzolo Acreide set its new churches beside the memory of Akrai.

This chapter therefore moves between capital and hinterland, destruction and reconstruction, cultivated plateau and protected coast. The eight guides explain a region held together by routes and historical relationships rather than by a single architectural label.