13 Best Sights in Sicily, Italy

 Siracusa is most famous for its dramatic set of Greek and Roman ruins, which are considered to be some of the best archaeological sites in all of Italy and should be combined with a stop at the Museo Archeologico. If the park is closed, go up Viale G. Rizzo from Viale Teracati to the belvedere overlooking the ruins, which are floodlit at night.

Before the park's ticket booth is the gigantic Ara di Ierone (Altar of Hieron), which was once used by the Greeks for spectacular sacrifices involving hundreds of animals. The first attraction in the park is the Latomia del Paradiso (Quarry of Paradise), a lush tropical garden full of palm and citrus trees. This series of quarries served as prisons for the defeated Athenians, who were enslaved; the quarries once rang with the sound of their chisels and hammers. At one end is the famous Orecchio di Dionisio (Ear of Dionysius), with an ear-shape entrance and unusual acoustics inside, as you'll hear if you clap your hands. The legend is that Dionysius used to listen in at the top of the quarry to hear what the enslaved people were plotting below.

The Teatro Greco is the chief monument in the Archaeological Park. Indeed it's one of Sicily's greatest classical sites and the most complete Greek theater surviving from antiquity. Climb to the top of the seating area (which could accommodate 15,000) for a fine view: all the seats converge upon a single point—the stage—which has the natural scenery and the sky as its backdrop. Hewn out of the hillside rock in the 5th century BC, the theater saw the premieres of the plays of Aeschylus, and Greek tragedies are still performed here every year in May and June. Above and behind the theater runs the Via dei Sepulcri, in which streams of running water flow through a series of Greek sepulchres.

The well-preserved and striking Anfiteatro Romano (Roman Amphitheater) reveals much about the differences between the Greek and Roman personalities. Where drama in the Greek theater was a kind of religious ritual, the Roman amphitheater emphasized the spectacle of combative sports and the circus. This arena is one of the largest of its kind and was built around the 2nd century AD. The corridor where gladiators and beasts entered the ring is still intact, and the seats (some of which still bear the occupants' names) were hauled in and constructed on the site from huge slabs of limestone.

One of Sicily’s best-kept secrets, the archaeological park of Akrai is home to what is said to be Siracusa’s first inland settlement, built to defend its overland trading route from other Greek colonies. You can access the site by a steep but steady 20-minute walk or a five-minute drive. Today, the site contains mainly ruins, but it is well worth visiting simply to see the Teatro Greco, originally constructed in the 3rd century BC to seat 600. Around the site, you'll also find two old stone quarries used to build the settlement, then converted into burial chambers as well as a remarkably well-preserved portion of the stone road into the area. Mount Etna may be seen rising majestically in the distance.

In all of Sicily there may be no spot more scenic than atop this crumbling hilltop fortification reached by a set of steep staircases rising out of the town center. From here you can gaze upon two coastlines, smoking Mount Etna, and the town spilling down the mountainside. Mention of its foundations go back to the 4th-century Hellenistic Siceliote inhabitants; it was remodeled by 9th-century Byzantines and then the Normans, but all that stands today are remains of the 16th-century castle walls. Come during daylight hours to take full advantage of the vista.

Not far from Termini is the hamlet of Buonfornello, a fascinating archaeological site that includes the remains of the ancient city of Himera, founded by Greek settlers in 648 BC. Hannibal later destroyed ancient Himera in 409 BC, and the surviving population moved to the nearby thermal springs, which later became Termini Imerese. The outdoor archaeological area houses the ruins of many Roman temples and buildings. The more important items recovered from the excavations are housed in the on-site museum and in another rather neglected museum located across the SS113 road. Artifacts include bronze and ceramic vases and intricate artworks made with other precious metals.

 The Greeks put a premium on finding impressive locations to stage their dramas, such as Taormina's hillside Teatro Greco. Beyond the columns, you can see the town's rooftops spilling down the hillside, the arc of the coastline, and Mount Etna in the distance. The theater was built during the 3rd century BC and rebuilt by the Romans during the 2nd century AD. Its acoustics are exceptional: even today a stage whisper can be heard in the last rows. In summer, many music and dance performances are held in the Teatro Greco after sunset, when the marvelous vistas of the sparkling Ionian Sea are shrouded in darkness, but the glow of Sicily's most famous volcano can sometimes be seen in the distance.

Splendidly set on a promontory above a long stretch of cliff-backed sandy beach that runs right down to Scala Dei Turchi, Eraclea Minoa was once an ancient Greek city. Today, archaeology enthusiasts will enjoy the path along the mostly buried circuit of its walls to get a sense of its strategic position above a fertile river valley that appealed to the west coast Greeks. Located approximately halfway between Selinunte and Agrigento, it was founded by the former but fought over by both for most of the 5th century BC. Its fortune barely improved over the following centuries: Eraclea’s position on the west coast made it a desirable target for the armies of Carthage. Warfare, landslides, and a propensity to use ancient sites as quarries for ready-cut stone mean that little is left of the city today, and mistakes have been made in attempts to preserve what does remain.

The perspex roof added to the theater in the 1960s created warm, damp conditions perfect for the growth of abundant weeds that further damaged the stone, and a "temporary" roof erected in the early 2000s is still in place, but severely damaged. That said, the site is atmospheric, especially in spring when covered with wildflowers. There is also a small museum, with lots of finds relating to everyday life and death in the town, including a broken pot with the fragment of someone’s name written on the side, several votive statuettes, and some beautifully decorated lidded pots (pyxis) for jewels or cosmetics found in graves.

Originally from the early 800s, today this castle is mostly in ruins, but if you follow the well-constructed paths that wind through it, you can still pass through some rooms and doorways and get a sense of what the castle once looked like. The views are lovely near the castle walls that extend above the cliffs, and you can see how castle defenders watched for enemies here. Access to the ruins is wheelchair-friendly, but some climbing of stairs is required to complete the tour of the entire site.

Once a vital part of the city's defenses, today Collesano's medieval castle is a picturesque ruin that makes for an evocative exploration of the town's topography and history. The castle's impressively thick walls are on the north side of the town in front of the town's original parish church. The castle was built during the 12th century by King Roger II of Sicily after he decided to move his administration to a more strategic place to head off invasions from North Africa and the Middle East. What remains of this original project are the remains of a series of defensive buildings in a small medieval neighborhood, making it a fascinating place to visit.

Not far from the Archaeological Park, off Viale Teocrito, the catacombs below the church of San Giovanni are one of the earliest known Christian sites in the city. Inside the crypt of San Marciano is an altar where it is believed that St. Paul preached on his way through Sicily to Rome. The frescoes in this small chapel are mostly bright and fresh, though some dating from the 4th century AD show their age. To visit the catacombs, you must take a 45-minute guided tour (included with the admission price), which leaves about every half hour and is conducted in Italian and English.

The sandy limestone from this quarry was much prized by ancient Greek builders. Lacking the fossilized shells abundant in much local stone, it was a stronger and more resistant construction material, and consequently a natural choice for the temples of Selinunte. Nevertheless, quarrying the stone in the huge discs required for temple columns was clearly no easy task, and as you wander through and above the gorge, you come across several broken discs, including one that was abandoned, split, before it had been fully removed from the bare rock. Even without the historical interest, this is a lovely place for a quiet stroll through olives, asphodel, and wildflowers, although in low season the site is unmanned and used by goatherds, so keep an eye out for untethered dogs.

This late-Roman villa was accidentally unearthed during construction work for the nearby autostrada in the early 1980s, and the archaeological area has since recovered a complete Roman aristocratic home. The villa is filled with fascinating details, including mosaic tiled floors, walls, and doors.

Located high above Mistretta are the ruins of this Arab-Norman castle. At over 3,000 feet above sea level, the location offers some spectacular views out to the coast and the highest peaks of the mountains from Santa Croce down to Santo Stefano di Camastra. The remaining structure of the castle gives you an idea of its original dimensions, which were built to defend the city and look out all along the coast. The castle was also connected to an extended walled perimeter that encircled the original town.

Scattered through the piazza just across the bridge to Ortigia are the ruins of a temple dedicated to Apollo, which dates back to the 6th century BC. A model of this is in the Museo Archeologico. In fact, little of this noble Doric temple remains except for some crumbled walls and shattered columns; the window in the south wall belongs to a Norman church that was built much later on the same spot.