Santa Lucìa alla Badìa, Siracusa

Santa Lucìa alla Badìa, Siracusa tickets: which one to buy

The church stands on the cathedral square in Ortigia, the island that forms the old centre of Syracuse, a few steps south of the cathedral front. It is deconsecrated and now used for exhibitions and events, so what you find inside depends on the month. Opening is correspondingly irregular, usually afternoons, and sometimes ticketed when a show is running. Check on the day.

Walking tours of Ortigia include it as part of the square, along with the cathedral built into a Greek temple, the fountain of Arethusa and the Jewish ritual bath under a hotel nearby; two hours covers the island comfortably. Tours devoted to Caravaggio exist in Sicily and stop here, though the painting associated with the city has moved between three venues in recent years and its current home should be confirmed before you build a day around it. Entry to the square itself is free and it is the finest baroque space in Sicily.

Visiting Santa Lucìa alla Badìa, Siracusa: what to see

A Benedictine convent stood on this site by the middle of the fifteenth century, on ground traditionally identified with the place where Lucy, the city's patron, was condemned. The earthquake that flattened south-eastern Sicily in 1693 destroyed it, and the rebuilding between 1695 and 1703 took the opportunity to turn the front around: instead of facing the narrow lane it had used before, the new church was given a facade on the cathedral square, where the processions happened. That front is the reason to look.

It rises in two storeys, the lower one heavy with twisted columns and a wrought-iron balcony that ran along the nuns' gallery, the upper one lighter and set back, with the whole composition slightly too tall for its width and all the better for it. The interior was badly damaged in the Second World War and restored afterwards, and is now a plain white hall used for temporary displays. The iron balcony across the front was built so the enclosed nuns could watch the processions without leaving the convent.

Santa Lucìa alla Badìa, Siracusa opening hours and the best time to go

The feast of Saint Lucy on the thirteenth of December is the great day in Syracuse, when her silver statue is carried out of the cathedral and across the city, and this square is where the procession forms. A second celebration follows in May. Both fill Ortigia. Otherwise, the island is busiest in July and August, when the Greek theatre hosts a season of classical drama in the archaeological park across the bridge and the evening passeggiata packs the square.

Spring and autumn are ideal; winter is mild and very quiet. Late afternoon light on the cathedral square is the best of the day, and the stone turns a deep honey colour. Restaurants around the square are priced for visitors, while those in the market streets to the north are not. Half an hour here is enough, and the cathedral next door deserves an hour of its own. Ortigia has a covered market that trades in the morning and shuts by two, and it is the best lunch in the city.