Euryalus fortress

The Euryalus Fortress located in the frazione of Belvedere, was the key point in the fortifications of the ancient Greek city of Syracuse, Magna Graecia.

It is located on the highest point of the hill of Epipolae (about 120 metres above sea level), around 7 km northwest of Syracuse.

After the Roman conquest of the city in 212 BC by Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the fortress continued to be modified until the Byzantine period when parts of it were torn apart in order to repair the rest in light of Muslim invasion.

[3] In 1941, during the Second World War, the artefacts in the Syracuse archaeological museum were carried by mule to the fortress and hidden in its tunnels, so that they would be safe from aerial bombardment.

Beyond ditch D, the central fortress which was open in the Greek period, is closed by five square towers (pentapylon), which were probably about 15 metres high with crenellations on top as well as 4th century BC rainwater spouts in the shape of lions' heads, now kept in the Museo Paulo Orsi.

The ditches on the north side of the castle are visible only when one is very close to them, so that in an attack, there would have been a real danger of falling in and being killed by sentries, especially during rapid assaults.