Sperdùta: once upon a time in Ortigia

Behind the elegant drapery of the Baroque, Ortigia is still a beautiful old lady with many stories to tell. One of the best is about the neighborhood named Sperdùta and its people…

If you want to discover the island from a very different perspective, leave the main streets and forget the must see: what you want is behind the ancient iron gates and along the alleys where many men and women used to walk  and live day by day over the centuries.

Sperdùta was one of the 11 ancient neighborhoods of the medieval town. It laid on the North-Eastern sector of Ortigia, and its name is attested since the XIV century. The meaning is unclear, but there are some theories ranging from its position to a ghost story!

This place was turned upside down at the beginning of the 1900 in the name of progress, that’s why many think there is nothing worthy of note. Nothing more wrong!

Having a walk trhough the Sperdùta is about discovering the past one piece at a time, clue after clue. It’s about finding hidden alleys, barley wide enough for the shoulders of a man, which lead to secret courts still preserving the ancient Arab plan. It’s about identifying the ruins of a lost church in the rubbles of the Second World War bombing. And it’s about finding the places of the ancient crafts, passed down for generations since the Greek age.

Don’t forget your camera, always keep your nose up, feel the texture of the ancient limestone, discover an amazing world so close to the center and so far from the classic idea of “tourism”!

You will see:
* the ancient neighborhood named Sperdùta

Tour duration: about 1 hour
Max: 15 people

My rate includes:
* the tour described above
* a little present

Additional paid services on request:
* pick up at the hotel and back (max 4 people, only in Siracusa) and/or
* tasting of local products