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"...the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all..."

Syracuse, Sicily
Syracuse, Sicily
Syracuse is a city and municipality, capital of the free municipal consortium of the same name, located in the autonomous region of Sicily in Southern Italy. As of 2025, with a population of 115,636, it is the fourth most populous city in Sicily, following Palermo, Catania, and Messina.
"...the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all..."
"In the extreme part of this island, there is a fresh water source named Arethusa, of incredible width, very full of fish, whose flow would be overwhelmed if it were not divided from the sea by a massive stone wall."
"Stretched in front of a bay of Sicily lies an islet over against wavebeat Plemyrium; they of old called it Ortygia. Hither Alpheus the river of Elis, so rumour runs, hath cloven a secret passage beneath the sea, and now through thy well-head, Arethusa, mingles with the Sicilian waves."