Villa Landolina
Villa Landolina (Paolo Orsi Archaeological Museum). Villa Landolina is a historic residence from the late nineteenth century, once owned by the Landolina family, whose most illustrious representative was Saverio Landolina. It consisted of a small villa (now home to the library), surrounded by a large park, of which the Museum occupies the center.
The park, declared of public interest under the law 1497/39, hosts secular tall trees, with a rich undergrowth, and documents the romantic taste of the time, which, inspired by Arab gardens, had the characteristic of assembling plants of many species, juxtaposing exotic Mediterranean ones. The recent restoration has recovered many of the precious plant essences that had enriched it since the original arrangement.
Inside the park there are the entrances to some pagan and Christian hypogea, and parts of an archaic Greek necropolis and stretches of ancient roads have been found.
In a corner of the park, the liberality of the Landolina family allowed the construction of the "cemetery of non-Catholics", a small complex of graves in which, during the nineteenth century, foreigners of non-Catholic faith who died in the city were buried; it is an evocative and melancholy "path of memory", the most significant stage of which is the tomb of the German poet August von Platen. (Text source: Sicily Region)
The villa contains a Christian catacomb from the beginning of the first half of the third century. AD The Orange hypogeum, to be considered a southern offshoot of the catacombs of San Giovanni, has access from the extreme western edge of the land of Villa Landolina. In the area there is a whole series of hypogea with several chambers. the archaeological area is subject to restrictions pursuant to Law 1089/1939 (Text source: fact sheet no. 86. Landscape Plan of the province of Syracuse: Archaeological Heritage)
Card insertion: Ignatius Caloggero
Photo: web
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Web
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