Palazzolo is a town of 8,000 people (2024) in the Syracuse province in the Hyblean Mountains. The town is listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO. The city has a lovely historic center. It is very interesting and pleasant to get lost in the streets of the centre to get to the castle, between stairways and panoramic views. It is a member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

Understand

View of Palazzolo Acreide

The economy of Palazzolo Acreide relies mainly on agriculture (cereals) and farming of cattle and sheep.

The Ancient City lies on the hill above the modern town, the approach to it being defended by quarries, in which tombs of all periods have been discovered. The auditorium of the small theatre is well-preserved, though nothing of the stage remains. Nearby are the ruins of other buildings, which bear, without justification, the names Naumachia, Odeum (perhaps a bath establishment) and Palace of Hiero. The water supply was obtained by subterranean aqueducts. In the cliffs of the Monte Pineta to the south are other burial niches, and curious bas-reliefs called Santoni or Santicelli, carved in the 19th century by a peasant proprietor, which also appear to be related to funeral ceremonies. Also nearby is the necropolis of the Acrocoro della Torre, where many sarcophagi have been found. About 5 miles (8 km) north lies Buscemi, near which a sacred grotto has been discovered; and also a church cut into the rock and surrounded by a cemetery.

The main street of Palazzolo is Corso Vittorio Emanuele III which leads to the square with the town hall and the church. To the north of this road axis is the area of the old castle. While further south, on an isolated rock is the archaeological area of Akrai. The municipal villa is located to the east of the town center, in a marginal position. The town is crossed by winding and not very linear streets with slopes and steps that make walking through the alleys very fascinating.

Get in

It is 43 kilometres (27 mi) from the city of Syracuse.

By car

The easiest way to reach Palazzolo Acreide is via the Messina - Catania - Siracusa motorway, taking the exit for Palazzolo and Canicattini Bagni. Or crossing Floridia and Solarino via the A18.

Coming from Caltagirone and passing through Vizzini you can always take advantage of the Ss124. From the southern area, that is from Noto, you can come from the SP24.

By bus

Connections are provided by AST with Canicattini Bagni, Siracusa (55 min), Catania and airport, Buccheri (40 min). Transport times vary considerably depending on the time slots. In the summer there is a shuttle bus that connects the city with Noto (villa comunale) and Lido di Noto (Piazza Sallicano) twice a day. For information ask at the tourist information point or call +39 339 8974536, +39 327 0073245.

See

Archaeological sites

Akrai Greek Theatre

• 1 Akrai Archaeological Area (Area archeologica di Akrai), Colle dell'Acromonte, ☏ +39 0931876602. Daily 08:00-18:30. The park includes the theatre, the latomie and with a different entrance (based on the times indicated at the ticket office) also the visit to the Santoni. €4 full, €2 reduced. Combined ticket with Antonino Uccello House Museum €5. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 2 Akrai Greek Theatre (Teatro di Akrai). Daily 08:00–18:30. The Greek theatre dates back to between the 3rd and 2nd century BC. It is of modest size and is now used for youth performances during the INDA Festival which is held every year. It was discovered in 1824 by Baron Gabriele Judica together with the bouleterion. €4. (updated Sep 2020)
  • 3 Bouleterion. The bouleterion was a room where representatives of the boulé met to make decisions related to the management of the polis. 
  • 4 Paleochristian hypogeum (Catacombs of Palazzolo) (Ipogeo paleocristiano). The area where the hypogeum stands is called latomia, that is, a stone quarry like those found in Syracuse. The latomie then became a place of worship and were crossed by a sacred way due to the presence of pinakes (squares dug into the rock walls). The early Christian hypogeum features pit tombs with arcosolium separations. A style found only in the Syracuse area. 
  • 5 The Santoni (they are in another area of the park reachable by car). The Santoni are stone statues dated around the 4th-3rd century BC that represent different figures connected to the cult of Cybele for which there was an important sanctuary. The cult is one of the only examples in Sicily having originated in Asia Minor. Today there are twelve sculptures carved in a very poor state of conservation after a probable violent destruction. In the 18th century they were drawn by the traveller Jean Houel who found them already in a very poor state but more legible than today. 
• 6 Antonino Uccello House Museum (Casa Museo Antonino Uccello), Via Machiavelli n ° 19, ☏ +39 0931 881499. Daily 09:00–18:30. Located in the eighteenth-century Ferla-Bonelli palace, the anthropological museum is dedicated to Antonino Uccello, an ethno-anthropologist who for years collected a lot of material related to Sicilian and peasant traditions. These have been brought together in this small regional museum that recalls their value and memory. €2 full, €1 reduced. (updated Sep 2020)
• 7 Palazzolo Acreide Castle (north of Palazzolo, on the crest of a hill next to the church of San Paolo). Destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, its ruins extend to the edges of the gorge north of the city. Free. (updated Sep 2020)

Museums

• 8 Gabriele Judica Archaeological Museum (Museo archeologico Gabriele Judica), Via Gaetano Italia, 36. Tu-Sa 09:00–19:00, Su M 14:00–19:00. A small archaeological museum displaying the findings of Baron Judica (1760-1835) relating to Akrai. The Baron carried out the first excavations at his own expense, bringing to light findings and monuments. Free. (updated Sep 2020)
• 9 Museum of Travellers of Sicily (Museo dei Viaggiatori in Sicilia), Via Maestranza n ° 5, ☏ +39 0931871213. Weekdays 09:00–13:00 and 15:00–19:00, Su by request at the tourist reception office at Piazza del Popolo. A small museum that displays maps, books and prints by travellers who visited Sicily and described it, especially during the Grand Tour. The beautiful engravings are original, and there is also a rare first edition of De rebus Siculis by Fazello. €4. (updated Sep 2020)
• 10 S. Lucia water mill (Mulino ad acqua santa Lucia) (near the cemetery), ☏ +39 3773087583, ecomuseobuscemi@gmail.com. Along the Palazzolo valley there is a 16th-century water mill that still preserves its parts powered by the stream. Inside there is also a Museum of the Grain Mill. (updated Sep 2020)
• Longest Baroque balcony in Europe. (updated Sep 2020)

Churches

• 11 Basilica of San Paolo (Chiesa Madre di San Nicolò), Piazza S. Paolo (next to the mother church, in the same square to the north of the city). The church, built in 1720/30 on the site of a previous church, has a beautiful baroque façade and many altars with colored marble inlays inside. Inside is kept the statue of St. Paul that comes out in procession on June 29 with a spectacular celebration. The church is the cent of devotion of the inhabitants of the district. (updated Sep 2020)
• 12 Mother church of San Nicolò, Piazza Aldo Moro (at the foot of the castle on the north side of the city). Built after the earthquake of 1693 on the site of a previous church. Today it has three naves with a linear baroque façade. (updated Sep 2020)

Church of San Sebastiano

• 13 Church of San Sebastiano, Piazza del Popolo (in the main square). Rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 under the direction of the architect Mario Diamanti from Syracuse in 1724-1725, the first part of the facade was built, while the upper part was finished in 1768, the organ is dated 1728/9. In this church every year on August 10th the spectacular feast of San Sebastiano is celebrated. (updated Sep 2020)
• 14 Church of the Annunziata, Via Annunziata. Rebuilt under the local architect Matteo Travisi. It has a suggestive facade with spiral columns that make the church if not one of the most beautiful certainly one of the most extraordinary in Palazzolo Acreide. Inside, until 1906, there was the painting of the Annunciation by the master Antonello da Messina, which can be admired today after the restoration at the Bellomo Gallery in Syracuse. Behind a wooden altar is the painting Madonna del Carmelo created by Marcello Vieri in 1785 and a wooden sculpture of the Madonna from the 18th century. There is also a large painting of the Annunciation by Paolo Tanasi from 1827, in a side chapel and another painting of St. Paul of Padua by the same artist. (updated Sep 2020)
• 15 Church of S. Antonio (via Garibaldi). Rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century on the ruins of the previous church. The right bell tower was completed in 1815 while the left one was not completed. (updated Sep 2020)
• 16 Church of S. Michele, Piazza S. Michele. It was built in 1721-1722 under the direction of the architect Giuseppe Ferrara, the church has three naves and a simple baroque façade, inside a noteworthy painting by Michele Antonino Bova. (updated Sep 2020)
• 17 Church of the Immaculate Conception (Chiesa dell'Immacolata), Vittorio Emanuele. It was rebuilt together with the convent of the minors after the earthquake in Baroque style, with an extraordinarily curved facade. Inside you can see the marble statue of the Madonna with Child by Francesco Laurana from 1471/72 and a painting depicting a scene of the crucifixion by Paolo Tanasi from 1818. The convex facade seems to recall the facades of the churches in via Crociferi in Catania. 

Do

• Former Siracusa-Ragusa Railway (Ex Ferrovia Siracusa-Ragusa). A 50-km cycle route, sometimes arduous, along the former railway line that also runs through the Pantalica, with beautiful views and tunnels between Ragusa and Siracusa.  

Buy

• Soc. Agricola Domus Hyblaea, Via G. Campailla snc, ☏ +39 3468411331, info@domushyblaea.it. Traditional sausage of Palazzolo Slow Food Presidium or "Nettare degli Iblei" olive oil. Can also be enjoyed on-site. (updated Sep 2020)

Sleep

• Domus Hyblaea Resort, Via G. Campailla snc, ☏ +39 3468411331, info@domushyblaea.it. (updated Sep 2020)