Fort of Euryelos

(Local Name: Castello Eurialo) Epipolai, almost uninhabited today, was the northernmost and also the largest district of the ancient city of Syracuse. It lies on a limestone plateau of some 15,000sq.m/3.75 acres and is in the shape of a triangle. This plateau looked down on the important supply road from the interior, and was therefore fortified by Dionysios I in about 400 B.C. by means of a wall 6km/3.75mi long.

Diodor records that 60,000 laborers worked under the personal supervision of Dionysios and completed the great encircling wall in just 20 days. Its shorter eastern side runs parallel to the coast, and the long sides to the southwest and north join up near the Castello Eurialo, 8km/5mi northwest of