Forum Vittorio Emanuele

Culture, Monuments, Tipical places
Foro Vittorio Emanuele II - 96100 Siracusa

    Forum Vittorio Emanuele II, with its trees and benches, is the perfect place for a quiet walk. From here you can admire the port and part of the old city.

    Walking along the Forum, built to celebrate the unification of Italy, one encounters the Porta Marina, built in white stone and the only example of the portals of the medieval fortifications of Syracuse that allowed access to the city.

    The Forum also hosts the so-called “Fountain of Slaves”, a small water trough of the sixteenth century (probably used by the slaves for drinking and washing; from here derives its current name) bearing ancient heraldic coats of arms belonging to noble families of Syracuse. Next to it there is the reproduction of the emblem of the Bourbon of Syracuse: a shield on which stands the eagle, represented in the front, with legs and tail feathers spread, open wings and its head in profile facing right . The eagle carries a tower on the breast and under the shield can be seen the inscription SPQS (Senatus Populusque Syracusanus).

    Today the fountain has been restored and has been developed a lighting system that allows its use even in the evening.