3. ROMAN-EARLY CHRISTIAN ITINERARY

The Romans occupied the territory at the end of the 3rd cent. B.C., during the Second Punic War, with disastrous consequences for the city. Not before the 1st cent. A.D. did the Romans send colonists for the repopulating of Siracusa, which partially recovered its ancient splendor. St. Paul stopped at Siracusa for three days in the course of his trip to Rome. According to tradition, in the 1st cent. A.D. Siracusa became the seat of the first Christian church in the West.

SIRACUSA

The Amphitheater, the Landolina Venus at the "P. Orsi" Museum, the Roman Gymnasium, the Siracusan Forum, the Catacombs, the Early Christian Basilicas of San Pietro, San Giovanni, San Paolo and San Martino.

VILLA DEL TELLARO

Villa from the second half of the 4th cent. with splendid mosaics.

SAN FOCA'(on the outskirts of Priolo)

Early Christian Basilica with a nave and two aisles and a circular apse.