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Ear of Dionysius (Orecchio di Dionisio)

Parco Archeologico della Neapolis, Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
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Ranked #11 of 39 attractions in Syracuse
Type: Caverns/ Caves
33 visitor photos
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189 reviews from our community

Visitor rating
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Date Rating
London, United Kingdom
Senior Reviewer
9 reviews 9 reviews
4 attraction reviews
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 12 May 2013

Could do without hords of children screaming into the cave, and waiting for the echo. Good fun if your 10 years old, but spoils the ambiance.

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See 8 more reviews by 60martin for Syracuse
Centreville, Maryland
Top Contributor
98 reviews 98 reviews
32 attraction reviews
Reviews in 55 cities Reviews in 55 cities
46 helpful votes 46 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 2 May 2013 via mobile

Singing and shouting should be punishable by torture as we were amongst the narcissistic youth and groups of students only interested in their Facebook photo or YouTube video opportunity. Maybe there should be a special day for these people to come and trample over these places and just talk and talk and talk. Can't even imagine this in summer.

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See 5 more reviews by GK1959 for Syracuse
London, United Kingdom
Senior Contributor
22 reviews 22 reviews
17 attraction reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 18 April 2013

This cave is quite something. you think it is going to be quite small but it goes back a long way. Nature at its most stupendous but must have been quite scary when it was a prison!

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See 10 more reviews by Catherine E for Syracuse
Brussels
Senior Contributor
48 reviews 48 reviews
15 attraction reviews
Reviews in 19 cities Reviews in 19 cities
21 helpful votes 21 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 9 April 2013

Quite a unique cave structure of massive proportions and a must on the tourist's visit to the park - excellent photographic opportunity

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See 5 more reviews by robin22059 for Syracuse
Valletta, Malta
Contributor
11 reviews 11 reviews
6 attraction reviews
Reviews in 4 cities Reviews in 4 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 7 April 2013

What a wonderful experience. The children really enjoyed making their voices echo throughout the cave. A visit is a must!

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See 5 more reviews by Vallettiana for Syracuse
England
Senior Contributor
21 reviews 21 reviews
9 attraction reviews
Reviews in 6 cities Reviews in 6 cities
3 helpful votes 3 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 31 March 2013

This is a remarkable place - really worth seeing! It was Caravaggio who said that it looked like the Ear of Dionysius and, although I have no idea about Dionysius' anatomy, it does look very aural...

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See 9 more reviews by Ann41 for Syracuse
London, United Kingdom
Contributor
18 reviews 18 reviews
8 attraction reviews
Reviews in 6 cities Reviews in 6 cities
12 helpful votes 12 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 30 March 2013

You can't believe the scale of this "cave" until you enter. We were lucky to be the only people in it (off-season) for a while, which was very atmospheric, but shortly after our visit, an Italian tour group entered, with a singing tenor guide. We re-entered to enjoy the outstanding acoustics!

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See 6 more reviews by EPBerko for Syracuse
EUROPE
Senior Contributor
24 reviews 24 reviews
9 attraction reviews
Reviews in 16 cities Reviews in 16 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 March 2013

This ear-shaped cave has an amazing legend! What you absolutely must do is go as far as possible and shout "echo" and you will see the effect! (i was lucky enough to be on my own then so there was nobody to give me a funny look but then who cares!)

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See 4 more reviews by cultureVultureEurope for Syracuse
Plymouth
Top Contributor
64 reviews 64 reviews
30 attraction reviews
Reviews in 43 cities Reviews in 43 cities
41 helpful votes 41 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 25 February 2013

If you are visiting the Greek Theatre then its well worth the small detour (after the 2nd ticket booth) to walk down into the Latomia del Paradiso (Latomia = Quarry) where much of the stone for the Theatre was excavated. The Ear of Dionysius is so named as it is considered to resemble an ear, but you need a little... More

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See 3 more reviews by Plymouthtraveller8 for Syracuse
Aubonne, Switzerland
Top Contributor
69 reviews 69 reviews
31 attraction reviews
Reviews in 31 cities Reviews in 31 cities
39 helpful votes 39 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 15 February 2013

It's an impressively big cave down in the quarries, 65m high as I recall, but that's about it. Supposedly Caravaggio gave it its name, so that's something.

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See 6 more reviews by dpeck for Syracuse

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