Latomia of Paradise in Syracuse
Latomia del Paradiso of Syracuse, located inside the Neapolis Archaeological Park, is an ancient limestone quarry where the famous caves are located: the Ear of Dionysius , the Grotta dei Cordari and the Grotta del Salnitro .
The quarries are arranged along the edge of a jagged rocky ridge, about 1.5 km long, and delimited the ancient urban layout to the north. Beyond them, the large Epipolis plateau opens up which in the Greek age provided no less than 850,000 cubic meters of limestone blocks, used for the monuments and buildings of the city. The Latomia del Paradiso is located in the easternmost part. The bottom of the latomia and its original extraction level today appears much less deep than it was originally due to the accumulation of alluvial materials and the presence of an old citrus grove.
