Best of eastern Sicily full-day private tour from Catania

The Castello Maniace is a citadel and castle in Syracuse, Sicily, southern Italy. It is situated at the far point of the Ortygia island promontory, where it was constructed between 1232 and 1240 by Emperor Frederick II. It bears the name of George Maniakes, the Byzantine general who besieged and took the city in 1038. Originally, one could only enter the castle over a bridge spanning a moat. A feature of the castle is the decorated portal. Today the castle is open to the public and is a local tourist attraction in Syracuse.

Catania is the second-largest city in Sicily, after Palermo, and among the ten largest cities in Italy. Located on Sicily’s east coast, it faces the Ionian Sea. Catania today is the industrial, logistical, and commercial center of Sicily. Its airport, the Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, is the largest in Southern Italy. However, it is also noted for its history, culture, architecture, and gastronomy. The section of the city known as the “old town” features some of the most striking examples of baroque architecture in Italy, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Catania Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Agatha, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It was the seat of the Bishops of Catania until 1859 when the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese, and since then has been the seat of the Archbishops of Catania.

The Cathedral of Syracuse, formally the Cattedrale metropolitana della Natività di Maria Santissima, is an ancient Catholic church in Syracuse, Sicily, the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Siracusa. Its structure is originally a Greek doric temple, and for this reason it is included in a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated in 2005. The cathedral stands in the city's historic core on Ortygia Island.

San Benedetto is a church in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Dedicated to St. Benedict of Nursia, it was built from April 1334, then it was destroyed by the 1693 Sicily earthquake; only 5 nuns survived the disaster. The church and the monastery were rebuilt between 1708 and 1763 and Giovanni Battista Vaccarini was one of the main architects. The church is part of a complex including also the Badia Maggiore and the Badia Minore, connected by a covered bridge over the road. The church was also damaged by bombing in World War II and later restored by the architect Armand Dillon. Its most famous feature is Angel's Staircase, a marble entrance stair decorated with statues of angels and surrounded by wrought iron railings. The entrance door, in wood, has panels with Stories of St. Benedict.

City Hall or Municipio is located now in what was Palazzo degli Elefanti. This palace was built in 1696, after the terrible earthquake. There are several balconies, and from one of them Mussolini spoke to people. There is a main courtyard and a second courtyard at the palace that is worth seeing. The building has facades from each of its parts. There is a grand staircase that leads to the main courtyard and 4 porticoes that were built much later at the end of the 18th century.

The Ear of Dionysius is a limestone cave carved out of the Temenites hill in the city of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily in Italy. Its name, given by the painter Michelangelo da Caravaggio, comes from its similarity in shape to the human ear. The name is also linked to the acoustic effects inside the cave: it is told that people's voices echo up to 16 times.

The Fountain of Arethusa is a natural fountain on the island of Ortygia in the historical centre of the city of Syracuse in Sicily. According to Greek mythology, the freshwater fountain is the place where the nymph Arethusa, the patron figure of ancient Syracuse, returned to earth's surface after escaping from her undersea home in Arcadia. The fountain is mentioned in a number of works of literature, for instance, John Milton’s pastoral elegy Lycidas (l. 85) and his masque Arcades, as well as Alexander Pope’s satire The Dunciad (Bk 2, l. 342) and William Wordsworth's blank verse poem The Prelude (Bk X, l. 1033). These writers would have known the fountain from references in ancient Roman and Greek sources, such as Virgil's 10th Eclogue (l. 1) and Theocritus' pastoral poem Idylls (I, l. 117). Virgil reckons the eponymous nymph as the divinity who inspired bucolic or pastoral poetry. In Moby-Dick, Herman Melville writes that waters from the fountain were said to come from the Holy Land. The Fountain of Arethusa, the river Ciane, south of Syracuse, and the river Fiume Freddo in the province of Catania are the only places in Europe where papyrus grows.

The Greek theatre of Syracuse lies on the south slopes of the Temenite hill, overlooking the modern city of Syracuse in southeastern Sicily. It was first built in the 5th century BC, rebuilt in the 3rd century BC and renovated again in the Roman period. Today, it is a part of the Unesco World Heritage Site of "Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica".

The Archaeological Park of the Neapolis is one of the best attractions of Syracuse rich in history and incredible findings. The archaeological park of the Neapolis hosts the most important ruins of the old Greek-Roman city of Syracuse. This park is divided into three sections which include the Latomie, the Greek theatre, and the Roman amphitheater. Neapolis was one of the five quarters of Syracuse during the Greek and Roman periods. It is considered an open-air museum where it is possible to find a massive collection of ruins dating back to Sicily’s glorious days.

Noto is a city and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is 32 kilometers (20 mi) southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Odeon of Catania is one of the most significant monuments of ancient Catania. The Odeon exemplifies ancient Roman architecture in Catania. It was built as a semicircular construction that could accommodate 1500 spectators. This Odeon is similar to those funded in other Greek and Roman cities. The building material was mainly lava rock, but also bricks and marble. The orchestra - semicircular space between the auditorium and the stage, was and still is paved with marble. Some of the rooms in Odeon were restored in the sixties, but their function remains unclear until today.

Ortygia is a small island which is the historical center of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as the Città Vecchia (Old City), contains many historical landmarks. The name originates from the ancient Greek ortyx (ὄρτυξ), which means "Quail". Ortygia, being an island just off the coast, was easily transformed into a natural fortress with harbors and was big enough that it could hold a significant population in ancient times. Therefore, the history of Ortygia is synonymous with the early history of Syracuse.

The Amphitheatre of Catania is a Roman amphitheatre in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, built in the Roman Imperial period, probably in the 2nd century AD, on the northern edge of the ancient city at the base of the Montevergine hill. Only a small section of the structure is now visible, below ground level, to the north of Piazza Stesicoro. This area is now the historic centre of the city, but was then on the outskirts of the ancient town and also occupied by the necropoleis of Catania. The structure is part of the Parco archeologico greco-romano di Catania.

Roman Theater of Catania is situated next to Odeon and is another example of ancient Roman architecture in Catania. It dates back to 300 B.C. It was built mainly from black lava stones and other materials that make it look like polychrome. Here you can see what is left from the original Theater. Roman buildings of the old Roman city became the foundations for other buildings of the city and today you can see Baroque palaces built upon part of the theater.

Syracuse[a] is a historic city on the island of Sicily, the capital of the Italian province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheaters, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, next to the Gulf of Syracuse beside the Ionian Sea. The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entirety of Magna Graecia, of which it was the most important city. Described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all", it equaled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and the Byzantine Empire. Under Emperor Constans II, it served as the capital of the Byzantine Empire (663–669). Palermo later overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860. In the modern-day, the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica. In the central area, the city itself has a population of around 125,000 people. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28:12 as Paul stayed there. The patron saint of the city is Saint Lucy; she was born in Syracuse and her feast day, Saint Lucy's Day, is celebrated on 13 December.

The Roman amphitheater of Syracuse is one of the best-preserved structures in the city of Syracuse, Sicily, from the early Imperial period. The amphitheater is largely excavated out of the living rock and in the northeast, it takes advantage of the slope of the same rocky outcrop which the Greek theatre is built into. Almost nothing of the superstructure, which was built from masonry, survives.

The Temple of Apollo is one of the most important ancient Greek monuments on Ortygia, in front of the Piazza Pancali in Syracuse, Sicily, Italy.