A Love Letter to Ortigia, Sicily
The island of Ortigia is the historical heart of Siracusa. We decided to stay in Ortigia as our base for day trips to Marzamemi, Scicli, Ragusa and Noto, and aren’t we glad that we did!
It is hard to compete with Ortigia on its beauty. The town is surrounded by the turquoise ocean and its frozen in time medieval layout and Baroque landmarks are well preserved. From the island, there are also amazing views of the mainland Siracusa and Mont Etna. On top of all this, it also has the perfect weather and you can sun tanning in late December!
OrtIgia's Duomo is one of the town's most celebrated sights. Its fancy Baroque façade is magnificent, and the massive Doric columns of the original Greek Temple of Athena it once was are still visible. The surrounding piazza, the social center of Ortigia, is elegant and grand. A massive Christmas tree was placed in the center of the piazza, adding sophisticated festive flair to the ancient backdrop.
Castello Maniace, another well-known attraction, is situated at the island's southern tip. It is not hard to see that it was an obvious defensive site with its clear view of the entrance to Siracusa’s sheltered bay. However, the 13th-century castle today is worth a visit not because its intended function, but because it is a lovely place to wander, enjoy the fantastic views while contemplating Siracuse's past glories.
Fonte Arethusa is a fresh-water spring whose history goes back to the earliest Greek colonists. According to mythology, the spring is an embodiment of the nymph Arethusa. Arethusa wanted to escape from the attention of Alpheus, an unwanted suitor, and her goddess Artemis changed her into the spring. A sculpture showing the scene is positioned alongside the spring. Beyond the legend, it is a magical place to be. Surrounded by high stone walls, planted with papyrus and dotted by white ducks, the spring is a perfect place to enjoy a quiet moment.
Like many old cities in Italy, there is so much more to explore in Ortigia than the top attractions listed on tourist sites. Across the bridge to the mainland Siracusa is the majestic ruins of the Greek Temple of Apollo. The small Chiesa of San Martino, a simple and ancient church with a lovely interior, decorated with a mosaic in the apse. Piazza Archimede, the social center of Ortigia, sits elegantly at the center of the island, featuring the beautiful fountain of Artemis (yes, the same goddess who helped Arethusa). The piazza is a place to chat with friends and neighbours and to have never ending discussions about the football matches.
Moreover, we felt that there is something 2000 (or more) years old at every turn.
Although the monuments in archeological parks are obviously incredible, it is always fascinating to discover that there are normal lives in an ancient setting. I wonder what feels like to have a Greek ruin next to the kitchen; or the view from the bedroom is the Temple of Apollo. Would you ever take them for granted?
I like the football trapped inside the Temple of Apollo. Would it also last for another 2000 years? Probably not.
What sets Ortigia apart from other medieval towns is that it is not only a town of the past, but also a town of present and future. It is the charm and energy makes Ortigia a great place to visit and live. For a small footprint of Ortigia, it has a great art and music scene. There are concerts in different churches almost every week, even in the off season winter. MOON (Move Ortigia Out of Normality), a vegan restaurant/gallery, also hosts concerts and events. The food was good too (we are not vegan, but good food is good food)!
The type of places like MOON has definitely created a more creative, more contemporary, and more global aspect of Ortigia. Ortigia feels old and new, elegant and funky, traditional and modern, Sicilian and global. It is on full display at the exhibition of LEI by Mauro Drudi in Church of San Cristoforo. LEI is an artistic installation composed of about 300 paintings on wood , all depicting various pop interpretations of the famous image of the Virgin Annunciata by Antonello da Messina.
In addition to plenty cultural activities, Ortigia is also a great place to shop and eat. Via Roma is a posh shopping street with different stores and boutiques. For high-street type shopping, the best place on Ortigia is Corso Matteotti. Via Cavour, a narrow alley, is lined with restaurants, wine bars, and shops. One of shops is worth visiting if you enjoy Sicilian wines. Olive is the sister store of Tami’s Concept Store at next door, and it has a selection of the best food and organic wines from Sicily. You will discover and taste the best of the Sicilian flavours: extra virgin olive oil from the Hyblaean Mountains, aromatized salt from western Sicily, and Bonajuto chocolate from Modica. The gentleman in the store is extremely knowledgeable of the artisanal Sicilian wines. He knows every wine and its back story in the store. There is so much love and pride in every bottle that we wanted to enjoy all of them.
There are many jewelry and pottery studios in Ortigia. My favorite is Baco jewelry store, located on the quieter side of the town. All the pieces in Baco are handmade with precious or semi-precious stones like amethyst, quartzite and amazonite with modern design. The designers behind the collection used to work in Milan for big design houses and moved to Sicily a couple of years ago to pursuit their own creative dream.
Finally it is time to talk about food. Ortigia has a vibrant and colourful market on and around Via de Benedictis. The market showcases local food produce, with all kinds of seafood from prawns to swordfish, piles of lemons, oranges, beans, tomatoes, artichokes, and heaped up spices, almonds, pistachios, cheeses and all kinds of Sicilian speciality. It seems that grocery shopping is more of a social event than a simple task, and feels much less transactional. There are discussions and conversations between the vendors and the customers. We waited for about 15 minutes before it was our turn to by some goat cheese. Even with our almost non-existing Italian, we managed to chat (using a lot of hand gestures) a bit.
The Fratelli Burgio store, Il Gusto dei Sapori Smarriti, is at the end of the market stalls, and specialises in local cheeses and other Sicilian products. It is a foodie’s paradise and a great place to stock up on delicacies to take home. They also serve sandwiches made to order, artisanal beers, local wines and other catered food. The salumi made from Sicilian black pigs was very rich in flavor and a perfect companion to the powerful Sicilian reds. The most expensive item in the store is the local delicacy bottarga di tonno, cured Bluefin tuna roe, which costs 300 euro a kilo. We served it with olive oil and lemon juice on toasted bread as an appetizer.
There are many bars and restaurants in Ortigia. Sunset Bar is located at the end of the island with sweeping views of the ocean, and is, as the name suggests, a perfect place to watch the beautiful sunset. The bar serves beer, wine and cocktails with very reasonable prices.There was very few tourists in town when we visited, but the bar is always full of locals. It seems that everyone knows everyone at the bar, and we saw the same groups of people all the time. It became our routine to go to Sunset on the sunny afternoons, sipping our drinks, watching people passing by, and enjoy the view and each other’s company.
There are a wide range of restaurants in Ortigia. There is even Chinese and Sushi restaurants, mainly driven by tourists, I assume. Regina Lucia is one of the Michelin recommended restaurants, located at Piazza Duomo, the heart of Ortigia. The food is Sicilian cuisine with a contemporary twist and the decor is consistent with the style of the food with the typical Sicilian tufa arches and modern-style furniture. It is a perfect place to enjoy an upscale dinner on a special occasion.
Sicilia in Tavola is very popular with tourists partly because it was profiled in a New York Times article. The multi-lingual staff are charming, and the interior is welcoming and very small: booking is strongly advised. However, we didn’t find the food have much to write home about. But we did find a fantastic restaurant across the street and had one of the best meals in Sicily.
La Tavernetta da Peiro is very popular with locals and we were the only tourists there. It serves simple homecooking Sicilian meals with very fresh local produce. Our meal is delicious and unpretentious. I had never been fond of swordfish and found them dry and tense, like cardboard. But our server recommended it and I though that I would give it a try. Aren’t I glad that I did! It was simply grilled with some lemon juice squeezed on top abd it was tender like butter.
This post concludes our Sicilian series and it makes me feel a bit sad. Writing the posts has allowed me to relive the beautiful memories of our time in Sicilian. Beautiful scenery, delicious food, friendly people and spending time with my loved one. What else would I want in the world? At the same time, I tell myself and Sicily that we will be back and this is only the beginning.
