Chiesa San Filippo Apostolo, Siracusa

catacombes and spiritual baths - the island of ortigia is traversed by an unground tunnel network. it's the second only to that in rome.
the church of san filippo apostolo is a catholic church built in 1743 and is located in the giudecca district of ortigia, the historic center of the city of syracuse. right under the church, accessible through a trap door, you can enter the crypt with ossuary. but there are other levels below the crypt. in total there are three levels with a total depth of 18 m. the middle and lower levels are older than the church, the church was later built above. the second level was built in 2750 bc by the greeks and used to transport fresh water and sewage. this level also contains tunnels up to 300m long that connect the churches with each other. they have been used for escape purposes since they were built. they also served as bunkers in world war II. there was space for 10,000 people, that's 3 people per square meter - people stayed in the bunker for up to 3 months. in the lowest level there is a spring that the syracuse jewish community used as a ritual bath (mikveh) during their stay in the district. this is also the origin for the name of the district: "giudecca".
if you are in ortigia, do not miss a visit to the church crypt!Weiterlesen