Country: Italy
Region: Sicily
Time of visit: June 2021
My rating: MUST SEE
Suggested duration: a full day
The visit to Ortigia was not initially foreseen in my plans; I had already visited the oldest neighborhood in the city of Syracuse and there were too many things I wanted to see during this trip; but I kept such a beautiful memory of it that I wanted to pass it on to my children; so we changed our plans, giving up visiting the castle of Donnafugata, to dedicate a morning to a walk in this ancient, enchanting city.
Ortigia is everything that Sicily should be and unfortunately not always is. In previous posts I have remarked several times how the traveler in Sicily is too often led to disappointment in seeing magnificent monuments and splendid views abandoned to neglect, decorated with garbage bags, cracks, rubble, architectural horrors. Of all the places I have visited in Sicily, Ortigia is the most wonderful exception to this sad Sicilian custom.
I think I am not exaggerating in saying that the city of Syracuse is one of the cradles of Western civilization; at the height of Athens' power, Syracuse was one of the major cities of civilized Europe; after the shining centuries of Magna Graecia, Syracuse was first conquered by the Romans, then by the Arabs and later by the Normans, who more than the previous invaders left their mark on the current aspect of the city. In 1693 it suffered serious damage from the earthquake that razed the entire Val di Noto to the ground, giving the impetus to the Baroque reconstruction which here, in my opinion, gave better results than in the rest of Sicily.
The island of Ortigia is the oldest offshoot of the historic center of Syracuse and the most majestic and best preserved part. Here, unlike many other areas of Sicily, building speculation and urban sloppiness have not done any damage; a wise management of the public administration allows to fully experience the historical-artistic beauties that have been stratified over the centuries and millennia. The city is alive and lively and walking through the streets with your nose in the air admiring its beauties you can't help but being involved in the vitality and warmth of the Sicilians.
The first thing that catches the eye, walking through Ortigia, is the dominant presence of the white color; the whole city was built with limestone from the Iblei mountains; wherever you look, on the palaces, on the floors of the squares, on the walls of the castles, on the ramparts that protect the city from the sea, the recurring color is always white. To say that Ortigia is resplendent is true in the literal sense. This is particularly evident in the square in front of the Duomo, certainly one of the most beautiful squares in Italy. I recommend visiting it at different times of the day, during the morning, when the white of the floor and the facades of the buildings is reflected at maximum power, at sunset, when everything is tinged with pink and at night when the contrast between the stone and the sky is at its peak (it wouldn't be a bad idea to invest a little in lighting the square, anyway).
The traces of the Arab occupation of Syracuse have been completely wiped out by those who came later (in particular by the Normans who did not have the same care as the Arabs in preserving the artistic heritage of of the previus occupiers); the city that appears today to the visitor is therefore a mixture of three evident cultures: the ancient Greek civilization, the Norman civilization evident above all in the military installations, and the Bourbon-Italian civilization of the Baroque period.
A truly remarkable monument is the cathedral at the centre of the main square. I have already expressed my cautious judgment with respect to many Baroque buildings in the Val di Noto, to which I feel I can attribute some figurative excess and a bit of repetitiveness, at least according to my personal taste. Another defect that I have found in many churches of Noto, Scicli, Ragusa is the fact that a triumphant facade often corresponded to a negligible interior.
The cathedral of Syracuse is on a completely different level; the shapes of the facade combine in the best way the refinement of forms typical of the Baroque style with an elegance not always present in other buildings in the area. But what makes the Cathedral unique is the fusion of architectural elements of an ancient Greek temple with eighteenth-century architectural elements; the result is extremely fascinating both on the outside, where the columns emerge from the walls like Michelangelo's slaves from stone blocks, and on the inside where the Doric architectural elements are even more evident, giving shape to an unusual sort of "architectural syncretism" of which, personally, I can't think of equals.
As anticipated, another characteristic element that markedly defines the profile of the city is the military architecture, most of it made by the Normans. Walking along the monumental ramparts that rise above a crystal-clear blue sea, it is impossible not to think about how many naval battles this city has seen over the millennia, from the Greeks to the Romans, from the Ottomans to the Arabs.
The main military building of Syracuse is the Maniace castle; the manor was commissioned by Frederick II of Swabia and built at the beginning of 1200; his vision (mostly from the outside, rather than from the inside) is truly powerful and it almost comes natural to envy the soldiers who, in the service of the "stupor mundi" ("marvel of the world", so was known Frederick II), lived in this spectacular place; the possibility of being beheaded by some Arab soldier could almost seem tolerable ...
Continuing the walk along the ramparts you reach the Arethusa spring, a source of fresh water near the sea, where papyri (very rare in Europe) arise, which has played an important role in the history of the city, to the point of being frequently mentioned over the centuries. by numerous poets and writers, from Cicero to Ovid, from John Milton to Alexander Pope.
Fine dining
Syracuse has a lot to offer to those who love seafood. In particular, in my wanderings, I found two places worthy of attention, which I would like to point out.
Before moving on to the podium, an honorable mention: if you want to eat fish, as it is supposed to be eaten in Sicily (delicious and abundant, with many side dishes based on aubergines, peppers, pine nuts, raisins, onions ... ) the Onda Blu restaurant-fish market in Via Elorina is recommended for all fine palates.
But now let's level up and reach for the stars! I wrote in the introductory post of this trip that one of the main attractions of Sicily is food and that Sicilian cuisine is a riot of flavors, richness and abundance with few equals in the world. In Ortigia I finally found what I expected from Sicily in terms of food and in general a small restaurant like I hadn't found for too long.
As we started our walk through the alleys of Ortigia, the owner of the Ortigia fish bar, with consummate commercial skill, had spotted us inviting us to come back for lunch time ... "if you like fish" ... What I found at the Ortigia Fish Bar is simply a small fish tavern cooking fish according to traditional Sicilian recipes; but it does so with the highest quality raw materials and with obsessive care for what it should be, after all, the most important aspect of cooking: the flavors!
In Italy, in fish restaurants, there is a very common dish that has unfortunately become a culinary commonplace: tagliolini (a sort of flat spaghetti) with cuttlefish ink. In a continuous race to level down the quality, tagliolini with cuttlefish ink have become an industrial dish that has two repetitive characteristics: they are black in color and have no flavor. So, imagine my reaction when I brought the first forkful of tagliolini to my mouth and I felt the flavor of the cuttlefish explode on the palate in all its intensity. No other descriptions are necessary: that dish was simply a triumph of flavor, there was no particularity except the fact that each forkful tasted, intensely, of cuttlefish.
Similar considerations apply to all the other dishes; there are no particular observations to make or refinements and inventions to describe; the cuttlefish tasted of cuttlefish, the mussels tasted of mussels and so on, as is normal, speaking of popular cuisine. But my reaction and that of all my diners was the same with every bite: eyes first wide open and then half-closed in the management of a thrill, moaning, grunt of pleasure accompanied by various exclamations from "oh my God" to "taste this!".
The dishes that, in order, aroused these reactions were, in addition to the tagliolini with cuttlefish ink: impepata di cozze (peppered mussels), tuna porchetta (divine ... the meat was so juicy ... and melted in the mouth), cuttlefish fillets with fennel (a typical ingredient of Sicilian cuisine, which I personally adore) and finally, her majesty the caponata (moaning and grunts of pleasure) (the caponata is an aubergine stew, that is flavoured with sour vinegar and a sweet ingredient like raisins or almonds. Other local ingredients like capers, olives and pine nuts may also find their way into the dish).
We had such a memorable time in this small tavern with blue walls and white wooden tables, overlooking the magnificent scenery of the walls of Ortigia!
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