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Vicolo Bonanni 34 – Ortigia
96100 Siracusa (SR)
ITALIA
A few meters from Krokos Ortigia you will find one of the oldest examples of Doric architecture in Sicily: the Temple of Apollo, which dates back to the first decades of the 6th century.Initially converted into an early Christian church, it then took on the role of a mosque during the Arab period, before being transformed into a basilica under Norman rule.
The temple was composed of 46 monolithic columns, with six frontal columns arranged in two rows and seventeen lateral columns and its identification as a place of worship dedicated to Apollo was confirmed thanks to an inscription located on a step of the eastern base where reads “Kleomedes made for Apollo (the temple), the son of Knidieidas, and raised the colonnades, beautiful works”.
What immediately appears to us is the rear part of the building, since the Greek temples had their façade facing East. Today only two columns and a few other remains remain to testify to its monumentality.Fragments of the splendid terracotta coverings that decorated the upper part of the temple of Apollo on the outside are preserved in the “Paolo Orsi” Regional Archaeological Museum.Visiting the remains of the temple is currently not permitted. However, the presence of railings surrounding the ruins allows you to admire the remains of the temple from the outside.
