Necropolis of Pantalica — Attraction in Sortino

The Necropolis of Pantalica, located near Syracuse in Sicily, is one of the most fascinating archaeological sites in Italy. This place, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage, hosts over 5000 rock-cut tombs dating back to the period between the 13th and 7th century BC.

Pantalica is famous for its rock-cut tombs, which are small cavities carved into the rock. These tombs are an impressive example of how the ancient Sicels, an indigenous people of the island, buried their dead.

The site extends over a vast area and includes five cemeteries: the Cavetta necropolis, the North necropolis, the Fosso del Forno necropolis, the Anaktoron necropolis, and the Grotta Grande necropolis.

In addition to the tombs, Pantalica is also famous for the Anaktoron (or Prince's Palace), a megalithic structure that some believe was the residence of an ancient king. Although much of the Anaktoron is in ruins, it is still possible to see traces of the walls and rooms.

Visiting Pantalica is like taking a journey back in time, allowing you to get an idea of how ancient Sicilian civilizations lived. The natural beauty of the place, with its limestone rocks and lush Mediterranean vegetation, adds further charm to this fascinating...

The location is good and interesting, the scenery is great. But you have to figure out some things on your own. First, you can't go into the area by car anymore. At the entrance you have to leave the car (free parking, not too spacious), register your name with the ranger and take a free shuttle bus that keeps going up to the end of the road to the Necropolis North and then back to the entrance. They will pick you up on the way. So far so good. Wish someone had told me in this clarity because the map they give you is useless, but you can go either 1 km by the shuttle to the start of the walking trail and the walk a few km to the end point, or do it the other way round. From the end point you can go down the river and up the other side or simply go back. There are many signposts along the way. Unfortunately, there are no maps showing you exactly where you are. I saw some confusion along the trail. Just bring enough water when it's hot cause you walk a lot and going this and that direction adds up. As long as you end up on either end of the road, you're fine. And it's all free of charge. If organization and information was better, I would have give 5 stars. But it's...

We visited this place a few days ago, early in the morning and properly equipped with water, hiking shoes, hats etc. We accessed the area from Ferla and stopped at the entrance. The guy at the entrance informed us we had to park there and take a shuttle bus to visit the Anactoro and the pantalica with the ancient graves. However he didn't speak any English, we tried to communicate with the assistance of another Italian visitor who spoke English. So the guy told us what trail to take, that it would be 2 hours hike and the spot that we would take the shuttle bus back to the entrance. I specifically asked when this bus will pick us up and the answer was it passes all the time, every 10min. So we started the hiking, it turns out the hike was 4hours instead, with inadequate signs,no signal, and no access to any water. We passes by two museums in the area with no available water. At last we reached the pick up point, and there was another guy there who told us the bus passes every 10min. We waited 50minutes for the bus to come pick us up, in the heat, without water. The trail had some beautiful parts but the entire experience...