Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi
The impressive collection of Siracusa's splendid if scruffy archaeological museum is organized by region and time period around a central atrium and ranges from Neolithic pottery to fine Greek statues and vases. Compare the Landolina Venus—a headless goddess of love who rises out of the sea in measured modesty (a 1st-century-AD Roman copy of the Greek original)—with the much earlier (300 BC) elegant Greek statue of Hercules in Section C. Of a completely different style is a marvelous fanged Gorgon, its tongue sticking out, that once adorned the cornice of the Temple of Athena to ward off evildoers. It's a massive collection so be prepared to be fatigued at some point while walking around the disheveled space-station-esque modernist (1961) complex.
