Temple of Apollo

The oldest stone temple in Western Greece, built when Syracuse was rising to become one of the ancient world's greatest cities. Its transformations through Greek, Byzantine, Arab, and Norman periods mirror Sicily's complex history.

Syracuse was founded around 734 BC by Corinthian colonists led by Archias. According to tradition, Archias consulted the oracle at Delphi before founding the colony, establishing a connection between Syracuse and Apollo from the city's very beginning. Within a few generations, Syracuse had grown wealthy and powerful, ready to build monuments that would proclaim its importance to the Mediterranean world.

The Temple of Apollo rose around 580 BC, the first major temple in the Western Greek world built entirely of stone. An inscription carved into the eastern stylobate celebrated this innovation: 'Kleomenes, son of Knidieidas, made this temple for Apollo, and his colonnade is a beautiful work.' The pride is palpable. This was something new, a technical and artistic achievement that set Syracuse apart from other colonies.

The temple served the cult of Apollo imported from Corinth. Apollo was god of prophecy, music, healing, and protection. As a deity closely associated with colonization, order, and civic identity, he was central to Syracuse's religious life. While the temple was not an oracle site like Delphi, it served as a locus for seeking divine approval in civic and military affairs.

For nearly a millennium, the temple functioned as a Greek sanctuary. Then late Roman persecution of paganism closed the temples. The Byzantine Christians who inherited the site transformed it into a church. The Arabs who conquered Sicily in the ninth century transformed the church into a mosque. The Normans who reconquered Sicily in the eleventh century transformed the mosque back into a church.

In the sixteenth century, Spanish military authorities incorporated the site into barracks. Private houses eventually swallowed the remains. Only in the 1860s, when the Spanish barracks were being demolished, did workers rediscover the ancient temple within. Paolo Orsi completed systematic excavation between 1938 and 1942, revealing the structure visible today.