The Sicily Series: Seduced by Syracuse

WORDS & PICTURES: Johanna Picano

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It’s taken me a long time to define what Syracuse has done for me; I’m not even sure that I’ve found the right expression yet. I could say that it’s a place I love, that I’m enchanted by – but that wouldn’t completely explain the way this place nurtures my soul.

So let’s begin with another definition. Syracuse is the fourth-largest town in Sicily and is clearly divided into a modern part and a historical part. The historical part – the one which has stolen my heart – is called Ortigia, and is actually a small island connected to the rest of Syracuse by two main bridges. Ortigia has always been the heart of the town, throughout its 3000 years of history. Like with the rest of eastern Sicily, it was conquered and developed by explorers of Ancient Greece before being taken over by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normands, the French, the Spaniards and so on, until Sicily became part of what we today call Italy in 1861.

All these different cultures have left their traces in the architecture, nature, food culture, and mentality of Sicily, and these fragments together shape the island’s unique atmosphere and beauty.

In Ortigia, this sense of identity is particularly vivid. There’s a concentration of Sicilian beauty, where the rustic and worn out co-exists with the shining and refined. The island of Ortigia is so small that you can walk around it in less than an hour; yet crossing the island from one coast to another will take you on a journey in time, a treat for all your senses.

The emerald water dances with the rocks along the wall which hugs Ortigia. The buildings along the seafront are old, gazing at you with a story that you want to hear but they don’t want to tell. Every narrow street that leads from the sea towards Piazza Duomo is magic in its own way, with cappuccino-coloured baroque palaces and secret courtyards dotted with lemon trees; hidden corners where artisans, art galleries and small seafood restaurants thrive, but without asking for attention. Romantic and mystical are the words that come to mind when trying to describe the feeling of generosity and integrity that this place is characterised by.

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Ortigia’s Piazza Duomo is one of the most beautiful squares I have ever witnessed. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the buildings around the square are all made from limestone, so typical for this area of Sicily. The cathedral itself represents the essence of the Sicily: a celebration of cultural diversity. The piece of land where the cathedral stands today has served all the people that inhabited the island, no matter the religion; the Catholic church is built on the base of a Greek temple, and there are traces of all cultures between the two. There is something so deeply respectful in this way of constructing, like saying: if this place is holy for you, it will be holy for me, too – even if I believe in another God.

I began by saying that this place nurtures my soul because it reserves something for each state of mind, and for every feeling I carry. And, in the end, I think I’ve found the right word to describe Syracusa: simply, beautiful. The kind of beauty that makes up the essence of life. The beauty you can see and experience in people, in nature, in art, in moments. A good kind of beauty, a true kind of beauty; a beauty that moves and inspires us, with all its imperfection and genuinity. That, for me, is Syracuse.

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