In the late 5th century BC, Siracusa was the mort important city of Magna Grecia, Greater Greece, which included all of southern Italy. Athens may have been the prime city of the homeland, but Siracusa was the center of Mediterranean wealth and power. In that respect, it was more important than Rome and Athens.

The historic city center is an island called Ortigia, which means quail, the shape that the ancients imagined it had. The architecture of Ortigia is Baroque. Small houses with elaborate little balconies, doors and windows line the narrow streets. But Ortigia and the modern city have Greek and Roman ruins, and the modern town has one of the best museums of Greek and Roman antiquities in the world. Ortigia also has a medieval castle built by Frederick II, the early 13th century ruler of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples, who is renowned for his ecumenism, encouraging his Muslim and Jewish subjects to live peacefully alongside the Christians who followed the Pope in Rome. Archimedes is the ancient Greek town hero – the local boy who made good -- and the main square of Ortigia is Piazza Archimede, with a wonderful fountain in the center.

Ortigia is under heavy restoration now. It was in total ruin when I first visited here more than 20 years ago. Now the workmen are so busy turning ancient buildings into condominiums and “holiday apartments” that they even work through the usually quiet after-lunch rest hours.

Walking around Ortigia is a pleasure. Sit at a café – the Duomo square has several facing the church, which was clearly built on the site of a Roman temple. The ancient columns are visible in the Baroque walls. Eat wonderful food at either modest mom-and-pop restaurants or more sophisticated places. The city is also an excellent base for visits to Catania, Modica, Ragusa, and Noto.

Osteria La Gazza Ladra
Via Cavour, 8 (adjacent to Piazza Archimede)
Cell: 340-0602428
Closed Mondays

La Foglia
Vegetarian and Mediterranean Cuisine
Via Capodieci, 29
Tel. 0931-66233
E-mail: trattoria@lafoglia.it
Website: www.lafoglia.it

This is a well-known restaurant where the food is of the highest homemade quality, but the prices are high, too. Decorated with abandon – to put it politely – with crotched doilies and such, mismatched table and glassware, it is meant to seem like you are dining in a private home. There is also some first-rate art by the cook-owner’s maitre d’ husband. It’s a good place to try the Siracusan fish soup/stew – matalotta. Again, tell them Iris and Arturo sent you. Figure $50 a person with simple wine.

Le Antiche Siracuse
Via della Maestranza, 2
Tel. and Fax 0931-875035
E-mail: corsino@corsino.it

Cafes don’t get much more stylish. On the main square, Piazza Archimede, in the historic heart of the city, Ortigia, the upfront pasticceria-café is backed by a wine and fancy food shop, and a gift shop with ceramics and other things you probably don’t need but will want. The bakery is actually an outpost of Corsino, a famous pasticceria with several other locations in Sicily. You can’t beat the pastries here, including the superb cannoli, filled at the moment you order them so the crisp shell doesn’t get soggy. I also loved the savory pastries in the morning, not to mention the cornetti (Italian croissant) filled with almond paste, or marmalade, or custard.

Antico Caffe Minerva (since 1921)
Via Minerva 15/19, at the corner of Via Roma 56/60
Tel: 0931-22606

We fell in love with this stylish place and its owners, Tina and Tino, she being a Sicilian who grew up in Australia (and therefore speaks perfect English), he being more or less local. The café design is totally contemporary, despite its 80-year-old history, and the gelati are superb. Don’t miss the intense pistachio. You always know when this flavor is good if the color is an ugly brownish grey-green, not really green, which it is here. The drinks and service are wonderful, too, but not so the morning pastries. A small outdoor seating area is a very pleasant place to sit, and quiet although on the corner of the main street of Ortigia and down the block from the Duomo.

Castello Fiorentino
Via del Crocifisso, 6 (cross street is via Roma)
Tel. 0931-21097
Cell: 0338-2963766

I notice people here – mainly locals – eating things other than pizza, but this is really a pizzeria, and perhaps the most popular in Ortigia. The clientele is young and hip, sometimes singles in groups, sometimes young families. The staff really hustles and is charming at the same time. The pizza is fantastic. We came here several nights, as it was hard to eat a big dinner after having eaten a huge lunch. My favorite pizza was called Bella Donna, which is a tomato and cheese pie topped with crumbled sausage, chunks of roasted potato, and a little rosemary. I observed that the most popular around the room, however, was Capriccioso, which has a half-dozen things on it, including a hard-boiled egg. There are often groups waiting outside for a table – no reservations – but the wait can go quickly – ask inside, they’ll give a good estimate – and the pizza is worth a little wait.

Raw Marinated anchovies

Orange Salad

Ristorante L'Ancora
Via G. Perno, 7
Tel. 0931-462369
Website: www.ristoranteancora.com

Near the bus station, across the bridge in the modern part of town, this isn’t the kind of place that tourists usually find. I was taken here by Iris’s friend Etel, who is strictly local. L’Ancora means The Anchor, and seafood is what you eat here. There may be some meat on the menu, but I wasn’t aware of it. Certainly, there are vegetables and pastas. We started with seafood antipasti, all served family style on big platters. These included tiny raw red shrimp in a salad with oranges, spring onions, parsley and olive oil (perhaps my favorite item on the table); raw fresh anchovies dressed with hot red pepper flakes, parsley and olive oil; snails in a tomato-basil sauce; small clams cooked with garlic, parsley, and a bit of white wine, and razor clams prepared the same way. The house pasta – Spaghetti all’Ancora – is with fresh anchovies, mint, sun-dried tomatoes, and breadcrumbs. House-made macaroni comes with shrimp and clams in a tomato-based sauce made creamy with ground pistachios, which are very popular all over Sicily, as they are grown on the island. (The most highly regarded are from Bronte.) Another pasta dish worth recommending because it is so good and so local is with the Siracusan pesto of chopped fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and garlic. This appears to be a very simple restaurant. It’s not much to look at. But it has a chef who really cares, buys the top-top quality seafood, and is, of course, very skilled. He comes around to the tables to say hello and make sure you like his food. Because fish is expensive – everywhere in the world today – figure $50 a person with good simple wine.

Ristorante “Minosse”
Via Mirabella, 6 (cross street is Corso Matteotti)
Tel. 0931-66366
E-mail: ilristoranteminosse@tin.it
Closed Mondays

I am listing this restaurant, but not necessarily recommending it. I did not get to it on my last trip, and I haven’t eaten here in many years. But I liked it years ago, and it seems to be unchanged, except that then Ortigia was in ruin and the restaurant drew locals. Now the restaurant is a tourist destination and recommended in major guide books. It is a bit pricey, but it is also quite attractive and more refined than most restaurants in the area.