The province of Syracuse

The Province of Syracuse

The province of Syracuse is home to an immense cultural heritage, it represents one of the best ways of getting to knov Sicily, and western man’s historical journey through life, from the beginning of time up to the present day.

Syracuse and its surrounding Provence:
the area is characterised by its immense cultural heritage, (Syracuse was the leading city of Magna Grecia, then it underwent Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Swabian, Angevin and Spanish rule), and in its inland area agricultural towns such as Floridia, Canicattini Bagni and St. Paolo Solarino were founded as a result of the vissitudes of various feuds from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Tho the north of Syracuse:
the striking contrast between a large industrial area and some very important archaeological sites lying in the very same area, as well as the popular folk religion of Melilli, the port of Augusta, the seaside around Brucoli, the orange groves of Lentini and Francofonte, all make up the very nature of the northern part of the provence Syracuse.

The Hyblean plateau:
the Hyblean montains, the inland mountainous area of the province of Syracuse, morphologically rocky and shaped by deep incisions in the calcareous rock and caves, is characterized by the centuries old presence of man-made works that with the passing of time have left surprising signs of different civilizations, that in their turn are very old.
The economic, urbanistic and present day social outlook, which has developed in recent decades in a significant but less dramatic way than elsewhere, is still mostly rural and has mintained its tranquil and pleasant nature.
The main towns in this area are Palazzolo Acreide, Buscemi, Buccheri, Cassaro, Ferla, Sortino that preserve a significant cultural identity as well as a strong link with the past.
They are therefore, places of extraordinary interest not only from a naturalistic or archaeological point of view but also from an ethno-anthropological one too.

Towards the south:
from Siracusa, going along the road 115 (the old Via Elorina) you get to Avola, Noto, Rosolini, Pachino, Portopalo: the southern part of the province of Syracuse.
The are fertile citrus fruit groves, almonds trees and local vineyardswine.
This is where you’Il find the sea of the old tuna fisheries and the beaches that have been saved from the threat of being concreted over.
The intense and transparent sea of the southernmost point of sicily is all this and much more.
There are the wild untouched and spellbinding places of Cava Grande and Castelluccio, not to mention the splendid Baroque of Noto.