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SYRACUSE
Calling Code: +30
Syracuse was founded by the Greeks, and it's a city filled with all that they left behind. It's dotted with
monuments, temples and theatres. And every year the well-preserved ancient theatre in Syracuse is the scene of a Greek
drama festival.
It's a seaport and it's in the south-eastern corner of the sun-soaked island of Sicily.
It was founded by Greeks about 2,700 years ago. And it became, for a time, the largest city in the ancient world. An independent city.
A center of commerce, art, theatre and science.
Indeed, it was home to the natural philosopher, Archimedes. Remember him? He was the guy in the tub who suddenly shouted "Eureka".
All that success attracted a lot of envy. Our mystery city got dragged into all kinds of struggles between the great empires of the
time - Athens, Sparta, Carthage and Rome. It was here that the
Athenians were smashed in 415 BC. After the Greeks came other conquerors: Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans and French. But the Greek
legacy remains in temples and theatres - some still in use.
The classical fame of our mystery Sicilian city also inspired the founders of numerous American cities to name their new home-towns
after this ancient place. The largest of the American cities of the same name is in upstate New York.
If there's a place you've stayed or something you've done, but we haven't listed, review it for us!
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