Syracuse and Marzamemi Sicily Tour

The tour will give you a taste of the highlights found in the beautiful island of Sicily. Coach journey is long however necessary to get to the relevant stops.

Syracuse - is one of the loveliest cities in Sicily. We tend to forget that it was once the most important city in Western Europe. The city owes its origin to the Greek settlers who, from 733 BC onwards, turned Sicily into Magna Graecia, when Greece ruled not only the Mediterranean but also the known world

Ortigia - Ancient Syracuse, is in fact an island, now joined to the mainland by a short bridge. It is the heart and soul of Syracuse, where the Greeks, for reasons of defence, decided to found their new city. Ortygia was in recent years given a face lift and is attracting more and more visitors.

Piazza Duomo - at the centre of Ortygia is the Piazza Duomo, with the Duomo taking pride of place. The Duomo is unique, no other word for it. It was built by the Greeks as the Temple of Athena. When the Byzantines conquered Syracuse, instead of demolishing the temple, as so often happened, they convert- ed it into a Christian church. The Normans modified the interior and built a more Christian façade. When the façade was destroyed in the 1693 earthquake the Sicilian baroque façade which we see today was erected. The Duomo, one of the oldest sites of continued worship in the world is unique an example of Greek, Byzantine, Norman and Baroque architecture all in one

Marzamemi - Just 45 minutes away from Pozzallo is the quaintest fishing village you can come across – Marzamemi. The rows of colourful one story fishermen’s houses are interrupted by the Tonnara, the disused tuna processing plant. The Tonnara was built by the Arabs in the X Century. Palazzo Principe Villadorata and the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola tower over the fisherman’s houses. The central Piazza Regina Margherita is everyone’s meeting place. The village is a sea of colour, the bright blue doors and windows, the potted red geraniums, the multicoloured wooden fishing boats, all against a background of the blue Mediterranean Sea. If you like Sicilian delicacies visit Campisi, the traditional delicacy, bottarga, the dried tuna roe has changed very little since Arab-Phoenician times.

close to the end of the journey. group will reach Pozzallo on the way back to Malta.