Theme Week Sicily – Syrakus

26 August 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - I FRATELLI ANGELO e GIORGIO BONOMO/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – I FRATELLI ANGELO e GIORGIO BONOMO/cc-by-2.0

Syracuse is a historic city and the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Syracuse next to the Ionian Sea. In the central area, the city itself has a population of around 125,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Siracusans. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28:12 as Paul stayed there. The patron saint of the city is Saint Lucy; she was born in Syracuse and her feast day, Saint Lucy’s Day, is celebrated on 13 December.   read more…

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