The necropolis of Pantalica: the story set in the green

Facing overlooking a pristine valley, the Pantalica It is one of the major examples of rock funerary architecture. Here's what you see in this mysterious place in the province of Syracuse.

This archaeological site is located in Sicily, on the plateau of the Monti Iblei. It is one of the largest necropolis of Europe, recognized by 2005 as a World Heritage Site along with the city of Syracuse. A set of underground caves where the glow of the rock blends with the green of the bush, creating irresistible color contrasts.

History and nature in a breathtaking landscape framework: on the one hand four tombs, acropolis and the ruins of Byzantine churches and villages that make him one of archaeological sites the most important and attractive in Italy, rare testimony of the period between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the other, the spectacular canyon and overhanging rocks on the two rivers, l’Anapo and the Calcinara, flowing in the oriented nature reserve Pantalica, Anapo Valley and Torrente Cava Grande.

Pantalica is easily accessible from Ferla, small village in the province of Syracuse in ancient origins, considered among the most beautiful towns in Italy. Rebuilt a little further north than the original inauguration, after the disastrous earthquake 1693, the town takes its name from ferula, the typical local plant inserted even in the city's coat of arms.

Many churches that rise along the sacred way, Via Vittorio Emanuele, in central urban plan cross-shaped architecture dating from the eighteenth century. These see the Mother Church of St. James, the perimeter of which were found remains of an ancient Greek necropolis; the Church of San Sebastiano, where the relics of St. John the Baptist are preserved, of Saint Lucia, St. Stephen's and St. Sebastian, it is to Church of Sant'Antonio Abate, whose reconstruction, after the earthquake, lasted fifty, but also the Church of Carmel, St. James, St. Sophia, of Friars Minor Capuchin, of Santa Maria de Jesus and many others.

Ferla is permeated by an intense spirituality. The warning is in suggestive procession do know sugar Holy Thursday during the celebrations for Easter and during the feast of the patron saint 20 July with the procession of the relic through the streets, dawn announced the firing of twenty guns.