Duomo di Ortigia
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Ortigia’s Piazza Duomo square is one of the most beautiful in all of Italy. This is mostly thanks to its views of the stunning Baroque façade of the oldest church in Europe, the Duomo cathedral. St. Paul visited Siracusa on his journey around the Mediterranean, and a statue of the apostle along with one of St. Peter adorns the steps of the church.
The Duomo is built on the site of the sixth-century BC monument the ancient Greek ruler Gelon dedicated to the goddess Athena. The Temple of Minerva was then built on top of that, and its massive stout Doric columns form the exterior of the church, which lies at the highest part of the island of Ortigia, a suitable vantage point for the augurs to look out at flocks of birds that enabled them to make their predictions.
The church façade was built following an earthquake in 1693 that destroyed much of the region, and was designed by the architect Andrea Palma. Its wonderful curves also house statues of the first arhbishop Marziano, the Virgin Mary and the local patron saint, St. Lucy. The saint is an important figure in the town’s history, since she was martyred in Ortigia and is said to have prayed at the hypogeum next to the church. She is honoured twice a year at festivals in May and December, when the entire town gathers to watch a silver statue and some of her remains being transported by velvet-clad bearers from the cathedral to the nearby church of St. Lucy accompanied by a painted coach, barefoot pilgrims holding large candles, the local brass band and a breathtaking display of fireworks.
Inside, the cathedral has Byzantine, Norman, Spanish and Fascist paintings, sculptures, windows, mosaics and flooring, reflecting its changing inhabitants over the centuries, and the outline of what was once the dome of an Arab mosque when the church was home to the Islamic faithful from 878 is also visible.
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