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Notes by ANTASICILIA-ONLUS.

The province of Siracusa

In each centre of the province are very substantial natural, architectural and urban resources. Particularly important, not only in the most famous city of Noto, are the buildings and churches in the Sicilian baroque style; this is a peculiar baroque, late (1700) with respect to the classic style (1600) due to the reconstruction after the devastating earthquake affecting eastern Sicily in 1693, which the Siracusa territory has in common with Ragusa and, with the exception of the volcanic rock, with the Etnean area.

The archaeological heritage is extremely rich and distributed in every commune of the province. Together with the latomie, necropolis, the Greek and Roman theatre, and the catacombs of the classical tourist areas of Siracusa or the Greek columns of the Athena temple encompassed within the outer walls of St.Lucia's church (S.Lucia is the patron saint of the principal-town), among other important locations, we may list the area of "Castelluccio", the necropolis of Pantalica in the territory of ancient Noto and along the Anapo valley, the Santoni and the Greek theatre of Palazzolo Acreide. The archaeological museums of Siracusa and Lentini house the richest findings in the whole of Sicily.

The long Ionian coastline offers fine beaches for swimming and sites equipped for tourists. The hinterland has splendid natural locations, which with their rich ornithological diversity, has gained the province of Siracusa, precisely for its cultural and environmental resources, the award of second place in the census (1991) of cultural and environmental heritage in Sicily. The richly vegetated gorges and the limestone caves with imposing stalactite and stalagmite formations, the saltworks and woods, marshes, torrents and rivers with their numerous and varied fauna and avifauna, as well as the ten protected areas (The fauna oasis of Vendicari, River Ciane and the Siracusa saltworks, Pantalica - Anapo valley and Cava Grande Torrent, Cava Grande of Cassibile, Capo Passero isle, Correnti isle, Grotta Monello, Grotta Palombara, Villasmundo- Sant'Alfio speleological complex, Priolo saltworks) all show the natural wealth and beauty of the province.

Manifestations of the cultural, historical and ethno-anthropological patrimony are equally rich and varied in the province.

The province has preserved an agricultural and rural tradition, above all linked to the cultivation of citrus fruit and almonds for the production of the renowned "torrone" (nougat) of Avola and the raising of animals for dairy farming; there are also considerable fishing activities along the entire eastern coastline.

The various patron saint festivities continue to pass on an ancient religious fervour, where faith and spectacle are expressed animatedly with great devotion, in the small or large towns of the province: the procession of the "nudi" of St. Alfio at Lentini, the feast of St. Sebastian at Francofonte, Melilli or Palazzolo Acreide, that of St. Lucia at Siracusa or Carlentini and the feast of St. Corrado at Noto or Avola.

In the province of Siracusa there are twenty-one communes (Augusta, Avola, Buccheri, Buscemi, Canicattini Bagni, Carlentini, Cassaro, Ferla, Floridia, Francofonte, Lentini, Melilli, Noto, Pachino, Palazzolo Acreide, Portopalo di Capo Passero, Priolo Gargallo, Rosolini, Siracusa, Solarino, Sortino), with an overall population just under 400.000 (1991), about 8% of the total in Sicily, and a density of 190 inhabitants per square kilometre.