Morning walks around Ortigia – Exploring Eastern Sicily, Part 6

This post is a continuation of a series documenting our travels to the eastern part of Sicily in the European spring of 2025. We were now in the island neighbourhood of Ortigia in the city of Siracusa where we had spent our first evening just getting to know the lay of the land by walking around the island ( Goodbye to Taormina & Hello to Ortigia – Exploring Eastern Sicily, Part 5 ).

We had booked 3 nights stay in Ortigia as I wanted this vacation to be more relaxed and Ortigia was the perfect place to unwind for a couple of days. We would certainly see the Greco Roman ruins in the main city of Siracusa during our stay here, as they were some of the best preserved and unique ruins of the time but most of our time in Siracusa was spent on the tiny island of Ortigia.

We have been lucky enough to visit Italy multiple times and have enjoyed the polished old towns of Florence or Siena in Tuscany and the bustling towns of Rome and Milan. What interested me about Ortigia was that it was not so polished. It had been the living centre of the ancient city of Siracusa, but in the early 20th century it was run down and almost abandoned by the locals in favour of the bustling main city itself. In the past decade or two tourism has returned to Sicily in a much bigger way and that has brought about a resurgence of the island itself. When we visited Ortigia, we experienced everything from newly restored beautiful buildings to buildings with peeled off plaster and paint to houses that had collapsed due to sheer neglect. It was a unique dilapidated charm that I hadn’t experienced anywhere else in my travels before. Having said that I was glad I got to experience Ortigia before it becomes big in the tourist industry and inundated with tourist groups.

We spent our first early morning in Ortigia doing what we do in every place we visit, walking around the Old town when it’s empty. In Ortigia the whole neighbourhood is the Old Town and we started out from our Arethusa Vacanze B & B and made a beeline for the Piazza Duomo, the centre piece square of the city.

The dilapidated charm of Ortigia as we walk towards the Piazza Duomo

We reached the Piazza Duomo at dawn and I could only get a few photos before the lights switched off. We were the only people there and had the huge square all to ourselves. I made a mental note of the time and I would be back the next 2 days well before that time to take photos of the buildings all lit up with no people in the square. For that morning I had to be satisfied with the soft golden light of dawn – It was still a very photogenic square. The narrow lanes of Ortigia were a sharp contrast to this enormous open space with beautiful buildings all around. The main attraction was obviously the Duomo / Cathedral of Siracusa which had been restored beautifully to its past glory days. We gawked around at the vast space and the beautiful buildings all around taking photos as we walked through the square. We would visit the interior of the centuries old Duomo later, for now we just took photos of the beautiful facade before moving on.

The narrow lanes of Ortigia suddenly open up into the huge Piazza Duomo

At the Piazza Duomo in Ortigia early in the morning

The Archbishop’s Palace next to the Cathedral

The beautiful facade of the Duomo of Siracusa

The better half poses on the stairs of the Duomo of Siracusa

The Cathedral and the beautiful square in front of it

A photo with the side of the cathedral which shows the various stages of it’s existence – more of that in a later post

We left the Piazza Duomo and entered a tiny lane to go towards the Fountain of Diana when we came across a massive facade. The facade was so tall and huge that we had to crank our neck almost fully upwards to see the top of it. Complete with tall columns and adorned with delicate sculptures this facade was spectacular. It was the facade of the Jesuit Church which was so large that it was impossible to get a photo of it from the tiny lane where it was!

The huge facade of the Jesuit church in Ortigia from the narrow lane where it is present

After straining our necks for a few minutes to appreciate the Jesuit church facade we walked through a narrow pedestrian only lane called Via Cavour which is lined with cafes and restaurants, all obviously closed this early in the morning giving this otherwise packed lane a serene feel.

Walking the via Cavour before the cafes open

We then walked to the Piazza Archimede named after the famous Greek mathematician and Physicist Archimedes who was from Siracusa. The square holds the beautiful “Fountain of Diana” which is over a century old. The fountain made of reinforced concrete in 1907 has the Roman goddess Diana in the centre ( Artemis to the Greeks) surrounded by mermaids riding mythical sea monsters.

The fountain of Diana / Artemis in the Piazza Archimede in Ortigia

Statues of Mermaids riding sea monsters around the fountain

Peaceful Piazza Archimede early in the morning

Only pigeons for company at the Fountain of Diana in Ortigia

With the fountain of Diana early in the morning

After enjoying our time at the fountain we decided to just roam around in the narrow lanes in the general direction of the “Temple of Apollo”. As expected we kept running into beautiful buildings – Palazzos or Chiesas ( Palaces or churches) and walking through one pretty lane after another till we reached the ruins of the Ancient Greek temple.

Ortigia is full of surprises if you wander it’s narrow lanes – The Palazzo Montalto

Taking photos with random pretty buildings in Ortigia

Wandering through lanes of all sizes with cats and pigeons for company

We finally reached the fenced off ruins of the 6th century BC Temple of Apollo. This is one of the most ancient of such temples in Sicily and has undergone several transformations – it has been a Byzantine Church, a mosque during the times of the Emirate of Sicily, Church of the Saviour and even incorporated into 16th century Spanish barracks! All these renovations obviously severely damaged the original structure which were rediscovered in 1890 and now fenced off to prevent further damage. If you don’t know the history the site is just a fenced off piece of land with stone foundations, partly collapsed walls and broken bases of columns. When you know what it was, you are in awe of the site which has existed in one form or the other for more than 2500 years!

The fenced off ruins of the Temple of Apollo in Ortigia

Part of the Byzantine church era wall of the Temple of Apollo

At the 6th century BC ruins of the Temple of Apollo

The history enthusiast in me enjoying the extremely important site in front of me

While I was in awe of the history of the place, what piqued my interest more was that I saw Rabbits prancing around inside the fence making the ancient ruins their home! I cursed myself for not bringing along my 300mm lens that morning to take photos of the Rabbits in their ancient home. I had more reason to be back here the next day with the 300mm lens in tow!

Promising the Rabbits that I would be back for them the next morning we left the Temple of Apollo and started walking towards our B &B taking a totally different set of narrow lanes. We wanted to explore as much of this pretty island and see what else it had in store for us. And Ortigia didn’t disappoint us.

Church of St Paul next to the Temple of Apollo

Ortigia is full of pretty lanes waiting to be explored

Chiesa di Carmine – yet another one of the small churches dotting the island

Yet another small church on the small but beautiful Piazza of the Knights of Malta

The Immaculate Church – yet another pretty church facade in Ortigia

Our wanderings through Ortigia finally led us to the waterfront at the Southern tip of the island where the sun was now shining on the buildings. The calm and clear waters below, the rocks jutting out of the sea and the facades of the buildings on the waterfront made for a spectacular scene – hopefully my photos do it some justice!

The better half poses at the waterfront at the Southern end of Ortigia

The composition that pleased me the most !

The sun makes us squint our eyes at the waterfront

We had one last spot to see before we returned to our B & B – The Fountain of Arethusa. We walked towards thus fountain which is a natural fresh water spring so close to the sea. This has been present here since time immemorial and is now a World Heritage site and a symbol of the City itself. We reached the fountain which was very close to our B&B (hence the name Arethusa Vacanze) and stood at the fence and marvelled at this natural wonder. There were ducks and geese swimming in the placid waters and again the 300mm was missed! We stood at the fountain for a few minutes before returning to our B &B in time for breakfast.

The Fountain of Arethusa in Ortigia, Siracusa with the sea beyond the wall

Standing at the Fountain of Arethusa in Ortigia

The better half smiles away after a great morning walk through Ortigia

We went to the terrace of the B & B where breakfast was served by the owner and his family. They had a nice facility of ticking what you want from a huge list so that no food is wasted. We had ticked off a lot of stuff but the morning’s exertions ensured that we would finish it all. A special mention here for the spread of home made jams that the owner lovingly served and were each more tastier than the next. They also served the best freshly squeezed Orange juice I have had in my life ( No exaggerations there!). Everything was fresh and supremely delicious. I love staying in these small family owned B & B s where the personal touch makes it even more memorable.

Fresh croissants with delicious home made jams at Arethusa Vacanze B&B

The iconic cannolis of Sicily fresh and delicious

We would then proceed to see the Neapolis Archaelogical Park in Mainland Siracusa that day but that is topic for another post. Here I would just like to show a few more photos from my next morning walk where I rectified all my mistakes from the first day. I reached the Piazza Duomo before the lights were switched off and I was glad that I did – It made the square even more spectacular!

Piazza Duomo all lit up early in the morning

The Duomo facade looks all pretty lit up

The Archbishop’s Palace and the Church of Santa Lucia all lit up

The lights make the Piazza Duomo even more beautiful

I then made a beeline for the Temple of Apollo to fulfil my promise to the Rabbits living there and unwittingly ran into yet another beautiful lane leading to a gate called the Porta Marina.

The lane leading to the Porta Marina in Ortigia

The Porta Marina in Ortigia early in the morning

Sure enough the Rabbits were there and I enjoyed a good half an hour taking photos of these wild animals comfortable in their ancient urban sanctuary. It was funny watching a cat trying to scare the rabbits and the rabbits being totally nonplussed and ignoring the feline.

Wild European Rabbits in the Temple of Apollo at Ortigia

The Rabbits have made the ancient temple ruins their home

A European Rabbit wonders why I am more interested in them than the ruins!

More photos of European Rabbits!

The Rabbits are not scared of the cat trying to bug them!

Happy with having captured the rabbits with my camera I kept the 300 mm on and walked towards the Fountain of Arethusa to take photos of the ducks there. On the way walking via the waterfront park I took photos of the cats of Ortigia. In our time there we had noticed the noticeably huge number of cats inhabiting the narrow lanes of Ortigia. The morning walks with the 300mm on gave me the perfect opportunity to take photos of a few of these felines that were kind enough to pose for me!

A intricate pot on the streets of Ortigia

I was photographing this statue on the waterfront….

when this beauty sitting at it’s base drew my attention!

A cat in Ortigia asks me to bugger off!

But gives me a deadly stare when I refuse to do so!

A chubby feline waits to be fed outside a home on the streets of Ortigia

Felines and their eyes are always photogenic !

Enjoying a cafe table before it opens!

I finally reached the fountain and was about to photograph the ducks when my attention was drawn to a small bird that has always been my favourite in Europe flitting around the bushes around the fountain- The European Goldfinch. The ducks were then promptly ignored till I got a few decent photos of the Goldfinch.

A European Goldfinch poses for the 300mm at the Fountain of Arethusa

Once I got acceptable photos of the goldfinch and it got tired of my attention and flew off, I turned my attention to the Muscovy ducks at the fountain. I had never seen these ducks before and their strange red faces made for good photos.

Muscovy Ducks at the Fountain of Arethusa

A common goose at the Fountain of Arethusa

These morning walks are what I remember most about any European town or city that I visit & Ortigia had been exceptional by all standards. I was glad that I had chosen to stay here for a prolonged period ( by vacation standards!) otherwise I would have really missed out on the wonderful little lanes that we had wandered in during our three days here.

Till next time,

Ciao!