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Syracuse was the city in Sicily I had been waiting to see with utmost interest. It’s the birthplace of the greek mathematician Archimedes, and had marvelous sights according to the guides.

The Old Town of Syracuse, spread over the island of Ortygia (connected to the mainland by a bridge for more than 2,500 years) is the area with most historical sights, and that’s where we headed right after arriving. It has so much to see, and yet just walking around all those impressively white-ish buildings, with large streets and squares made the stroll magical, plunging you back into an atmosphere of the past.

White buildings in the Old Town of Syracuse

The bridge connecting Ortygia to the mainland get you straight into the sight of Temple of Apollo (6th century BC). Even though little has remained from the temple, the size of the temple area is impressive.

Temple of Apollo

Since Syracuse is the birthplace of Archimedes, lots of piazzas, cafes and others are called Archimedes.

Piazza Archimedes

A most amazing area to stroll and enjoy the sea is the seaside street, with cozy restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops.

View from the seaside street

Syracuse was the place we finally tasted cannolo – an amazingly delicious pastry desert which seemed to be a Sicily specialty. Cannolo is a dough-based sweet tube filled with ricotta and nuts. Light and tasty at the same time. Do try it when you visit Sicily!

Cannolo tastes amazing!

It’s great that Syracuse sightseeing is mostly concentrated in Ortygia – this left us some spare time to enjoy the small streets, the souvenir shops, and have a cup of strong italian coffee.

Irresistible cafes nested along Syracuse streets

It also left us with some time to enjoy a great talk with our italian host, who recommended us a nice 1-day bike tour around Syracuse seaside, and offered to lend us her bikes. Well – we’ll take advantage of this next time.

And here’s a lovely heart-decorated setting from our host’s home. Reminder to come back again 🙂

Hearts 🙂

All lovely photos are credit to my friend Neli Korsakova!

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