This little town, noted for its Baroque buildings, is attractively situated 35km/21.75mi west of Syracuse in the Monti Iblei, between the valleys of the rivers Tellaro to the south and Anapo to the north. It replaced the ancient settlement of Akrai, parts of which have been excavated to the southwest of the town. The historical significance of the region can be studied in the nearby ancient necropolis of Pantálica.
History
Akrai was the first satellite town of Syracuse, having been built here in 664 B.C. as a successor to the Siculan settlement of Pantálica and also as a military outpost to defend the road to the interior of the country.
In the Early Christian period Akrai developed into a focal point of Christianity. The Byzantines kept a military base here as a defense against the Arabs, but nevertheless the latter succeeded in taking and destroying it in the ninth century. In the 12th century the Normans rebuilt the settlement, again for strategic reasons, and called it Palazzolo. In 1693 it, like Noto and many other towns, fell victim to the devastating earthquake of that year and was subsequently rebuilt as a Baroque town.
The archeological excavations of the ancient town are taking place in the Zona Archeologica immediately southwest of Palazzolo on Acremonte Hill. Recent digs have laid bare a large street, of which some 250m/275yds can be seen and which is crossed by almost parallel side streets.
Near the theater in Palazzolo Acréide can be seen a smaller building with seats arranged like those of a theater. This was the Buleuterion, where the town council met.
Nearby is what is thought to have been the agora, the local meeting place or market.
At the end of Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Palazzolo Acréide stands the Chiesa dell'Immacolata, a church containing a Madonna with Child by Francesco Laurana (1470).
The town of Giarratana, lying 582m/1,910ft up and 14km/9mi southwest of Palazzolo Acréide on the road to Chiaramonte Gulfi, is dominated by the triple-aisled pillared basilica of Sant'Antonio; an inscription on the west wall shows that it was consecrated in 1783, and displays the Spanish double eagle above the main door. In front of the facade lie a flight of steps and a terrace, while the front itself is boldly formed with pilasters and columns and surmounted by the elegant triple arcade of the bell-loft.
In the two ancient quarries of Intagliata and Intagliatella, to the south of the theater, the visitor can see graves together with caves which were inhabited in the Byzantine period. On the wall of the Intagliatella quarry is a relief showing heroes paying homage.
To the north of the main excavation area a well-maintained Roman road has been uncovered.
The Town Hall in Palazzolo Acréide dates from the 19th century. In the Antonino Uccello Museum on Via Machiavelli visitors can, on request, view an interesting ethnographic collection.
Near the Town Hall in Palazzolo Acréide, at the near end of Corso Vittorio Emanuele, stands the Baroque Palazzo Judica, which displays some particularly beautiful examples of the fantastically shaped balcony corbels found in so many Baroque palaces in Sicily, described by one W. Kranig as an "unusual range of unrestrained, freely invented shapes". There are plans to house a museum known as the Museo Acrense in the Palazzo.
To the north of the Piazza del Municipio in Palazzolo Acréide are two churches. The first is that of San Paolo on the Piazza Roma; built probably by V. Sinatra around 1750, it has an imposing front, and is noted for its projecting pillars, the portico opening into wide round arches, the superelevated bell-tower in the center and the carved figures depicting the Epiphany and the Twelve Apostles.
On the Piazza del Municipio in Palazzolo Acréide, with the Classical Town Hall, a flight of steps leads up to the magnificent church of San Sebastiano built in 1609.
In Via Annunziata in Palazzolo Acréide, will be found the church of Santissima Annunziata, with its richly formed portal framed by spiral columns with Corinthian capitals within the as yet unfinished facade.
A 15minutes drive to the east of the Temple of Aphrodite are the Santoni (shelters or refuges) with weathered pictures in stone belonging to the Kybele cult which depict that maternal deity from Asia Minor surrounded by other figures, including the Heavenly Twins, Hermes and Marsyas, and priests in Phrygian costume. These reliefs - the most comprehensive collection dedicated to the Kybele cult found anywhere in the whole Greek empire of the time - date almost certainly from the third century B.C.
To the south of the caves in Palazzolo Acréide will be found a sixth century Temple of Aphrodite, the Templi Ferali (a heroine from the Hellenistic period), and a Hellenistic necropolis of which only little remains.
To the east of the main road in Palazzolo Acréide stands the most important building of all, the Theater, probably constructed in the third century B.C. under Hieron II of Syracuse and rebuilt in Roman times. It seated about 600 spectators. Twelve rows of seats, the stone platform for the orchestra and the foundations of the stage have been preserved.
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Giarratana - Sant'Antonio Basilica, Italy
