Museo Archeologico Paolo Orsi ★★

Dwarf elephant skeletons elephas (palaeoloxodon) falconeri busk.

The archeological museum in Siracusa (Syracuse), Sicily, is one of the most important collections in Southern Italy

The 6th century BC Gorgon relief.This fantastic museum is one of Italy's top archaeological collections, and by far the best in Sicily.

It'd be a worthwhile stop simply for the aesthetic beauty of many pieces, and the well-documented exhibits make it invaluable for understanding the Greek and other cultures of ancient Sicily.

Section A - Prehistoric Sicily

Section A takes care of the island's southeastern corner during prehistoric times, kicking off with a pair of articulated dwarf elephant skeletons found in nearby caves (pictured at the top of the page).

Looking at the skulls it's easy to see why many academics believe that their odd shape and large central nasal passage led the local ancients—who surely stumbled across them—to invent the myth of one-eyed, cave-dwelling giants called Cyclopes.

But the best part of the prehistoric section is the remains left by humans, a collection of tools, ceramics, and sculptures that open a window onto the richness of Stone and Bronze Age cultures.

Section B - Greek Siracusa

5th century BC votive statuettes dedicated to Demeter/Ceres and Kore/Persephone Section B covers Siracusa and its province in all its ancient Greek glory. The highlights include:

• A terra-cotta statue of a goddess nursing twins (550 BC).
• The museum's mischievous mascot of a 6th-century BC terra-cotta Gorgon, grinning and sticking his tongue out (pictured above).
• Cases full of 5th- and 4th-century BC votive statuettes dedicated to Demeter/Ceres and Kore/Persephone, to whom there was apparently a temple across the street (discovered when they broke ground a few decades ago for the huge Sanctuary of the Madonna).

Section C - Greek Sicily

Section C contains the best remains from Magna Graecia settlements across eastern Sicily, including decorated vases from Gela spanning the 6th and 5th centuries BC; an enthroned goddess from 6th-century BC Grammichele; and a trio of rare 7th-century BC wooden statues found near Agrigento.

Section D - Roman Sicily

The Venus Landolina.Opened in 2006 in a new area upstairs, Settore D houses remains from Sicily's Roman and Hellenistic eras of the 4th and 5th centuries AD.

This section is the new home of some of the museum's set pieces, including the headless Venus Landolina, an Imperial Roman copy of a 2nd-century BC statue that's a lesson in both anatomy and aesthetics, and the spectacularly carved 4th-century Sarcofago di Adelfia sarcophagus from the San Giovanni catacombs.

There's also a collection of ancient coins up here, though it only stays open until 1:30pm (until 5:30pm Wednesdays).

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