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The facade of San Giovanni, Syracuse.What is now the ruined church of San Giovanni was a potters’ cave in Greek times, but after St. Paul preached on the spot it became serious holy ground.
A 6th-century basilica here was knocked down by the Saracens then rebuilt by the Normans in the 12th century.
After the 1693 earthquake shook it to the ground, a Baroque structure was grafted onto the ruins, but the 1908 quake destroyed that. Siracusans gave up and left the roofless Norman walls and half an apse as they were, romantically sprouting flowers and weeds.
It's still consecrated, and they hold marriages and summer Sunday services around a sarcophagal altar.
The bored guide will whisk you through the original 6th-century Greek-cross crypt, with remnants of frescoes and capitals from the Byzantine and Norman eras, including the purported column where Siracusa's first bishop, San Marziano, was flogged to death.
But the real treat are the catacombs, the only set of Siracusa's many subterranean burial grounds currently open to the public. There are some 20,000 tombs down here, niched into tunnels that honeycomb the earth connecting former Greek cisterns (recycled by early Christians into chapels).
Along with cornrows of graves that once housed extended families, you'll see a few faded frescoes and early Christian symbols etched into stone slabs.
★ Catacombe di San Giovanni
Via San Giovanni alle Catacombe/Via San Sebastiano (between the archaeological park and the archaeological museum, closer to the museum)
tel. +39-0931-64-694
Open Tues–Sun 9am–12:30pm and 2:30–5:30pm
Adm: €8
Bus there: 1, 3, 11, 12, 18, 25, 30 (to Viale Teracati); 1, 4, 5, 8 (to Viale Teocrito);
Bus
back: 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 26 (from Viale Teracati); 2, 3, 18, (from Viale Teocrito)
Tours take about 45 minutes to an hour. You'll be lucky if they'll do it in English for you, though. Still, it's well worth checking out.<
Because Siracusa buses follow circular routes (rather than out and back), you have to take one bus there (well, one of several choices), but a different bus back.
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★ Catacombe di San Giovanni
Via San Giovanni alle Catacombe/Via San Sebastiano (between the archaeological park and the archaeological museum, closer to the museum)
tel. +39-0931-64-694
Open Tues–Sun 9am–12:30pm and 2:30–5:30pm
Adm: €8
Bus there: 1, 3, 11, 12, 18, 25, 30 (to Viale Teracati); 1, 4, 5, 8 (to Viale Teocrito);
Bus
back: 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 26 (from Viale Teracati); 2, 3, 18, (from Viale Teocrito)
This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in April 2015.
All information was accurate at the time.
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