Syracuse Neapolis Archaeological Park Guided Tour

The Neapolis Archaeological Park

The Neapolis Archaeological Park gathers the most important monuments of ancient Syracuse in one green area on the north-western edge of the modern city. Neapolis means new city in Greek, the name of the district that grew here as Syracuse expanded from Ortigia in the fifth century BC. Together with Ortigia and the rocky necropolis of Pantalica, it forms a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Neapolis Archaeological Park tickets are sold at the visitor centre and online; buy yours before the tour so that you can enter straight away with the group. The park usually opens daily from the morning until about an hour before sunset. If you are asking how to get to the Neapolis Park, it is about half an hour on foot or a short taxi ride from Ortigia, and there is parking nearby.

The Roman Amphitheatre and the Altar of Hieron II

The visit begins at the Roman Amphitheatre, built in the imperial period and partly carved directly into the rock. With an arena about 140 metres long, it is one of the largest amphitheatres in Italy. Here crowds watched gladiator fights and animal shows, and you can still see the corridors where fighters entered and a basin in the centre of the arena.

Close by lie the foundations of the Altar of Hieron II, the ruler of Syracuse in the third century BC. About 198 metres long, it was the largest altar of the Greek world, built for public sacrifices to Zeus. Only the base cut into the rock survives, but your guide helps you picture the monumental steps and the festivals that once gathered the whole city here.

The Latomia del Paradiso and the Ear of Dionysius

The Latomia del Paradiso is one of the ancient quarries from which the Greeks cut the stone to build Syracuse. Today the deep quarry is a lush garden of orange and lemon trees, palms and wild flowers, between walls of pale limestone. According to tradition, thousands of Athenian prisoners were held in these quarries after their defeat at Syracuse in the fifth century BC.

At the end of the garden opens the Ear of Dionysius, an artificial cave about 23 metres high, shaped like a giant ear and stretching deep into the rock. Its acoustics are extraordinary: the smallest sound echoes loudly inside. Legend says that the tyrant Dionysius used it to hear the whispers of his prisoners. Many travellers ask whether the Ear of Dionysius is worth visiting; standing inside it is one of the most memorable moments of any Syracuse guided tour.

The Greek Theatre of Syracuse

The highlight of the visit is the Greek Theatre, built in the fifth century BC and enlarged in the third century BC. Its seats are cut straight into the rock of the Temenite Hill, forming a semicircle about 138 metres wide, which makes it one of the largest theatres of the ancient Greek world. Great tragedies were first performed here, and inscriptions in Greek can still be read along the gangway.

From the upper rows the view reaches the modern city and the sea. Above the theatre lie a cave with a nymphaeum fed by an ancient aqueduct and the Street of Tombs, cut into the hillside. Every year, from May to early July, the theatre comes back to life with a season of classical Greek drama, a special time to visit the Syracuse Greek Theatre.