Overview
Latomia dei Cappuccini
Siracusa's natural theatre
The forces of nature and the human hands have worked together to create the masterpiece that is the Latomia dei Cappuccini. In this stone quarry, one of the oldest in Syracuse, there is a mystical atmosphere, hovering between history and legend, spirituality and secularity.
Originally used for quarrying stone for the construction of the city, it was transformed into a place of detention for prisoners of war as early as the 5th century BC, after Syracuse's victory over Athens, due to its inaccessible position and cover of thick vegetation. In the following centuries, from a prison it became a place of worship, then metamorphosised into a pagan necropolis and, finally, into a christian cemetery.
As you enter the latomia, you will be dazzled by the beauty of this true natural theatre. Unsurprisingly, until the 1970s it was chosen as a setting for shows and events, in the section of the quarry known as the Verdura Theatre, because of the lush vegetation that grows among the rocks.
