Pantalica: the largest necropolis of Europe

Sicily is a beautiful island rich in history Mediterranean, culture and tourist destinations to be discovered. The necropolis of Pantalica, about 40 km from Syracuse, It is ideal travel stopover for those who want to combine culture, Nature and hiking.

Visit Pantalica: the origins

The Necropolis of Pantalica is an extraordinarily fascinating nature reserve. He founded more than three thousand years ago as a thriving settlement of the tribe of sicani, first used as a religious site in the Middle Ages and later as a Byzantine settlement, Pantalica has been repeatedly colonized giving life today in many cemeteries from different eras overlooking a deep gorge of the fruit of nature work.
Heritage by UNESCO 2005, Pantalica is today the largest archaeological site in Europe. It is characterized by its rocky structure that skillfully blends history and nature, giving life to an extraordinary natural beauty site, landscaping, historical and archaeological.

What to see in Pantalica

Reachable by Sortino and Ferla, Pantalica consists today of over 5000 caves dug into the canyons formed sheer walls of two rivers, Anapo and Calcina: a strategic position probably chosen because the rocky hills and the terrain were easier to defend than the coastal areas exposed.
At the center of the cave inhabited complex poses a plateau whose maximum height is 424 meters, length about 1200 and wide 600, Holds your Anaktoron or palace of the Prince, dating back to proto. Under this plateau, along the sides of the massif, They can see the most impressive traces of human settlement: Byzantine villages to the rests of the proto, the burial caves. Confuse with the tombs and with the proto testimonies are the remains of three villages and three rock churches linked to them: the first is located near the cemetery and has about Cavetta 70 homes in addition to the oratory of the Crucifix cave. The second village is under l`Anaktoron, in the necropolis as l`oratorio South and religious center of the S cave. Nicolicchio, while the third and largest of these conglomerates cave is placed between the necropolis and the South Filipporto saddle, It composed of more than 150 homes in most rooms and the cave of St. Micidiario, located at the so-called door of Pantalica.

During the Roman conquest of Sicily called Cicero Syracuse “the most beautiful cities of Ancient Greece”. Visiting Syracuse is an opportunity to admire the story skillfully blend the beauty of the area.