For the classicists, Syracuse’s real attraction is NEAPOLIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK. Hewn out of the rocky hillside, this 16000 capacity amphitheatre staged the last tragedies of Aeschylus. In late spring it’s brought to life with an annual season of classical theatre. Beside the theatre is the mysterious Latomia del Paradiso, a deep, precipitous limestone quarry out of which stone for the ancient city was extracted. Riddled with catacombs and filled with citrus and magnolia trees, it’s also where the 7000 survivors of the war between Syracuse and Athens in 413 B.C. were imprisoned. Back outside this area you’ll find the entrance to the 2^nd-century Anfiteatro Romano, originally used for gladiatorial combats and horse races. The Spaniards, little interested in archeology, using it as quarry to build Ortygia’s city walls. West of the amphitheatre is a monolithic sacrificial altar to Heron II. To rich we can use the transport from Molo Sant’Antonio, on the west side of the main bridge into Ortygia or walking for 30 minutes or by car.

The Roman Amphitheatre, built in the 3rd Century AD, is also very impressive: 140m long, it is one of the largest to be found anywhere. originally it was used for gladiatorial combats and horse races. In the centre is rectangular hole that is thought to have had one of two purposes: a space for scenic machinery or a drain for the blood.

limestone cave carved out of the Temenites hill in the city of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily in Italy. Its name comes from its similarity in shape to the human ear..The name of the cave was coined in 1586 by the painter Caravaggio. It refers to the tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse. According to legend, Dionysius used the cave as a prison for political dissidents, and by means of the perfect acoustics eavesdropped on the plans. The visitors of the cave can however still hear the echo while they are in the Ear of Dionysius.

Because of its reputation for acoustic flawlessness, the Ear of Dionysius has also come to refer to a type of ear trumpet that has a flexible tube.
There is a strong possibility that this feature is actually of natural origin. It lies on the down slope side of a substantial. The highly polished sides also suggest that the phenomenon was created by water. Such a natural feature, especially given its acoustics, would have been valued in the ancient world for its supposed sacred properties and this could have led to its preservation. The building of the extensive necropolis that abuts it on the hillside above involved removing a huge amount of the original overlaying rock, it is also possible that this 'canyon' extended even further before men began quarrying there.