San Giovanni occupies the W. part of an old Norman basilica; steps in the N.E. corner lead to the crypt of St. Marcian (4th cent.). A monk, who shows the church also if desired (fee ½–l fr.; ring, on the S. side, door to the E. of the vestibule), conducts us to the—
*Catacombs of San Giovanni, which like most of the catacombs of Syracuse and its environs, far surpass those of Rome in extent. The main passage of this great burial-place (4–7th cent. A. D.), 10 ft. high and 6 ft. wide, runs through the rock from W. to E. for 116 yds., and from it diverge short lateral passages ending in circular chambers. Of the mural decoration little is now left.
A little farther to the W. we cross the Catania road to the region of Neapolis, and follow the road leading to the Greek theatre. To the left, in 5 min., we reach the house of the custodian (½ fr.) of the Roman—
Amphitheatre, constructed in the time of Augustus, 153 by 130 yds. in area. In the arena lie many blocks of the marble parapet belonging to a restoration of the 3rd century.
About 120 yds. farther to the W. is the entrance, also on the left, to the great Altar of Hiero II. (30–50 c.). On this vast altar, 219 yds. long and 25 yds. broad and originally rising in two huge steps to a height of 34½ ft., were probably sacrificed the annual hecatombs of 450 bulls in memory of the expulsion of the tyrant Thrasybulus (466).
Opposite we see the Latomia del Paradiso, an ancient quarry 95–130 ft. deep, so-named from the most luxuriant vegetation which now clothes it (entrance through the gateway on the left). In its W. slope is the so-called Ear of Dionysius (entrance below, on the left), an S-shaped cavern, 71 yds. deep, 6–12 yds. wide, and 76 ft. high, tapering at the top, with remarkable acoustic properties. As the tyrant is said to have had prisons where from a certain spot he could hear every whisper, the tradition has been arbitrarily associated with this cavern.
The road next passes under the modern arches of the aqueduct and reaches, on the right, the *Greek Theatre (5th cent. B. C.), one of the largest in the Hellenic world. It is hewn in the rock, forming more than a semicircle. Its diameter is 147 yds.; 46 tiers of seats are still preserved; the eleven lower rows were covered with marble. Towards sunset we have a delightful *View of the town, the Porto Grande, the headland of Plemmyrion, and the sea.
Above the theatre is the so-called Nymphaeum, a grotto into which the aqueduct (see below) was led. On its left side the Via delle Tombe, hewn in the rock, ascends in a curve for 165 yds., with many lateral cuttings and tomb-chambers of the late-Roman age.
From the Catania road, ¼ M. to the N. of the branch-road to the Greek theatre, diverges to the left the New Euryelus Road, 3 M. long. It leads to the W., soon passing the Casa dei Gesuiti, to which walkers may ascend direct from the Nymphæum. It runs parallel with an Ancient Aqueduct (‘Acquedotto Galermi’), crosses the desolate plateau, very hot in summer, once the site of the Greek Neapolis and of Epipolae (p. [165]), and joins the old Euryelus road beyond the S. wall of Dionysius I. A little farther, where the road diverges to the left to the village of Belvedere and the Posto Semafórico or Telégrafo (617 ft.; fine view), is the Casa dei Viaggiatori (rfmts.; open from 15th Jan. to 15th May). Our road ends on the W. side of Euryelus, 130 yds. from the custodian’s house.
The *Euryelus (adm. 50 c.), the ‘outer fort’ of the Epipolæ, built about 400 B.C., at the junction of the N. and S. walls of Dionysius, is one of the best-preserved of ancient Greek fortifications. The five massive towers on the W. side, whence we survey the whole site of ancient Syracuse and enjoy a fine view ranging from Mt. Ætna to Calabria, are flanked with two deep moats hewn in the rock. In the first of these are subterranean apertures for sallying purposes.