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SYRACUSE

(Paleo-Christian Itinerary)

We leave Patti to Syracuse, a magnificent city and provincial capital on the east coast of Sicily. One of most important archaeological centres of Magna Graecia, Syracuse according to the biblical tradition was visited by the Apostle Paul on his pilgrimage to Rome, becoming, way back in the first century A. D., the seat of the first Christian Church in the West. Visits will be made to:
The Cathedral: Undoubtely Sicily's most unusual building, for the simple reason that it combines in the one structure the most important temple of the ancient city with the most important Church of the modern. Former the Temple of Athena, it was converted into Church in the Byzantine period.
San Giovanni alle Catacombe: After the Cathedral this is the most important Church in Syracuse; it was in fact, the first Cathedral of the city, built over the tomb of St. Marcian, the first Bishop of Syracuse, martyred in 254 A. D. - The Catacombs which adjioin the crypt are an extensive 4th century A. D. burial ground and consist of a large central passage.

Santa Lucia: The Church is historically the most important in Syracuse after the Cathedral and San Giovanni. Built in Byzantine times on the spot where the saint was martyred, this Church was rebuilt in Norman times and totally restructured at the end of the 17th century. Next to the Church, the oldest Catacombs dating from the 3rd centuy A. D., are on the theme of the praying virgin, a theme which came into beiing in the paleo-Christian necropoles.
The morning visit ends with the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Lacrime, built over the site of a miracle.

After lunch, visit will be made to the archaeological area of the Neapolis (Greeck Theatre, the Latomie and the Ear of Dionysious, the Roman Anphitheatre, the alter of Hieron).
Back to Patti.

via Dante Alighieri, 1 - 98066 Patti (Me)
Tel: 0941/241622 - Fax: 0941/243072
E-mail: info@sacrafamiglia.it - direzione@sacrafamiglia.it - sacrafamiglia@sacrafamiglia.it