District of Graziella

Culture, Tipical places
Via delle Grazie - 96100 Siracusa

    Popular district in the heart of Ortigia Island. The Graziella is one of the oldest districts in Syracuse; it covers the area behind the market town of Via De Benedictis up to Via Vittorio Veneto.

    The name of the district, as in many other parts of Italy, comes from the devotion to the Madonna of the Graces. The architecture of the district witnesses, even today, the Arab influence that, after the destruction of the city at the time of the conquest, was rebuilt in a very messy way, left to the imagination and the needs of the moment.

    Not even the earthquake of 1693 led to a tidier reconstruction, because there was a strange way of taking actions. Instead of removing the rubble and carry out a work schedule it was decided to pile up the rubble in the streets and in the squares adding further mess to the existing one. The rhonchi, in fact, are lower than the streets of one or more meters. The ronco becomes then an extension of the houses, which are small and obtained by the splitting of the property. The parcelling of the properties is also evident in the number of external steps getting up to the first floor of the houses, which create a characteristic mix of different materials used for railings and stairs.

    Via Arizzi and Via delle Grazie, with their rhonchi, are those which fully reflect the uniqueness of the fishing district. Until the first half of the nineteenth century it was one of the liveliest districts of the city, full of alleys, with its rhonchi, home to craft shops, wineries, bakeries, and many commercial activities. After the post-war it went thrugh a long period of neglect, which resulted in the migration of its people in the upper part of Syracuse, and the consequential emptying of the area.

    Thanks to the Urban plan the district has been newly restored with the demolition of several unsafe buildings and the implementation of new flooring and lighting. Notwithstanding the number of the inhabitants of the Graziella it is very low even if it is increasing thanks to the presence of North Africa’ s immigrants and to the purchase of houses by foreign tourists who are fascinated by the beauty of the district.