One of the most beautiful baroque piazzas in Italy is Piazza Duomo in Ortigia, Syracuse. A rectangular piazza surrounded by flamboyant palaces.? Here you find the extraordinary main church and the church of Santa Lucia, which is important for us Swedes.

The main church of Ortigia has not much left from the Greek era than couple of Doric columns in the facade, but is worth a visit. It’s dedicated to Athena and is part of the UNESCO heritage list. Usually when you seen one baroque church, you have seen them all, but this main church is very different. Its style is mainly Baroque and Rococo on the outside, inside has parts dating back to the Siceliot epoch, and parts dating back to medieval times, built by the Normans and thus left until the present day. Its internal structure is composed of several naves and chapels, which have a classic and decorated style, typical of the Baroque too. The site of the church dates back as far as year 700 B.C, but the church was complete 1753.

By the main church is the Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia, an important church for us Swedes as we celebrate Saint Lucia the same time as in Sicily. Here you find the original masterpiece from Caravaggio, Il seppellimento di Santa Lucia (Burial of St Lucy). It’s painted in Syracuse between 1608 and 1609.

Svenska

En av de vackraste barock piazzorna i Italien ?r Piazza Duomo i Ortigia, Sirakusa. En rektangul?r piazza omgiven av flambojanta palats. H?r hittar du den extraordin?ra huvudkyrkan och kyrkan Santa Lucia, vilken ?r viktig f?r oss svenskar.

Ortigias huvudkyrka har inte mycket kvar fr?n den grekiska eran ?n n?gra doriska kolonner i fasaden, men ?r v?rt ett bes?k. Den ?r till?gnad Athena och ing?r i UNESCOs v?rldsarvslista. Vanligtvis n?r man sett en barockkyrka har man sett dem alla, men den h?r huvudkyrkan ?r v?ldigt annorlunda. Dess stil ?r fr?mst barock och rokoko p? utsidan, inuti delar som g?r tillbaka till Siceliotiden och delar som g?r tillbaka till medeltiden, byggda av normannerna och d?rmed kvar tills idag. Dess interna struktur best?r av flera navar och kapeller, som har en klassisk och dekorerad stil, som ?r typisk f?r barocken. Kyrkans plats dateras s? l?ngt som ?r 700 B.C, men nuvarande kyrkan var f?rdig 1753.

Vid huvudkyrkan finns Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia, en viktig kyrka f?r oss svenskar d? vi firar Santa Lucia samtidigt som p? Sicilien. H?r hittar du det ursprungliga m?sterverket fr?n Caravaggio, Il seppellimento di Santa Lucia (Begravningen av Santa Lucia). Den m?lades i Sirakusa mellan 1608 och 1609.