Il 12 Gennaio 2006 il Presidente della Repubblica Italiana Azelio Ciampi si è recato a Siracusa per scoprire la targa dell'Unesco secondo la quale Siracusa e Pantalica sono state dichiarate dall'Unesco PATRIMONIO DELL'UMANITA' per tutte le bellezze archeologiche e architettoniche presenti nelle due località siciliane.
PANTALICA e SIRACUSA dichiarati Patrimonio mondiale dell' Umanità
Questa la motivazione con la quale il Comitato del Patrimonio Mondiale dell'Unesco ha iscritto PANTALICA e SIRACUSA nella World Heritage List:
''L'iscrizione del sito 'Siracusa e le necropoli rupestri di Pantalica' si giustifica in quanto la colonia di Siracusa,che occupò il territorio dove si era precedentemente sviluppata la civiltà preistorica di Pantalica, divenne presto il più importante centro della cultura greca del Mediterraneo,primeggiando anche sulle rivali Cartagine ed Atene. A Siracusa vissero ed operarono importanti personaggi del pensiero e dell'arte dell'antichità, quali Pindaro, Eschilo e Archimede, il cui nome è rimasto legato a quello della città. La stratificazione umana, culturale, architettonica ed artistica che caratterizza l'area di Siracusa dimostra come non ci siano esempi analoghi nella storia del Mediterraneo, che pure è caratterizzato da una grande diversità culturale: dall'antichità greca al barocco la città è un significativo esempio di un bene di eccezionale valore universale''.
E questo l'articolo di un giornale:
The official meeting for the listing of the archaeological site 'Siracusa and the rupestrian necropolis of Pantalica' in the Unesco's World heritage list after yesterday's ceremony with Ciampi in the Duomo square continued today in the Pantalica necropolis with the inauguration of the Unesco stele. Culture undersecretary Nicola Bono, world heritage patrimony centre director Francesco Bandarin, Siracusa culture superintendent Mariella Muti, mayors of Sortino, Ferla and Cassaro, the three towns where the site is, Orazio Mezzio, Giuseppe Veneziano ed Elio Rossitto, and Siracusa mayor Giambattista Bufardeci took part in the meeting today. The 5000 rupestrian tombs of Pantalica, which date back to the XIII century BC, enter in the UNESCO's patrimony that includes 40 treasures of art and landscape in Italy. Five of them are in Sicily. The site consists of two separate elements, containing outstanding vestiges dating back to Greek and Roman times:
a) The Necropolis of Pantalica contains over 5,000 tombs cut into the rock near open stone quarries, most of them dating from the 13th to 7th century B.C. Vestiges of the Byzantine era also remain in the area, notably the foundations of the Anaktoron (Prince's Palace). The necropolis extends over some 1200 m from north to south and 500 m from east to west in the region of Sortino. In the hilly terrain (caverns and precipices) and a natural environment of great beauty, about 5000 tombs are visible, most of which have been hewn out of the rock face. The tombs are divided into 5 sets:
Similarly, it has been possible to identify a period of reoccupation of the site in the 9th-10th centuries: the zone was in fact used for the defence against invasions of Sicily by the Arab armies.
b) the Ancient Syracuse, includes the nucleus of the citys foundation as Ortygia by Greeks from Corinth in the 8th century B.C. The site of the city, which Cicero described as the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of all, retains vestiges such as the Temple of Athena (5th century B.C., later transformed to serve as a cathedral), a Greek theatre, a Roman amphitheatre, a fort and more. Many remains bear witness to the troubled history of Sicily, from the Byzantines to the Bourbons, with, in between, the Arabo-Muslims, the Normans, Frederick II (Hohenstaufen, 1197 to 1250 A.D.), the Aragons and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Historic Syracuse offers a unique testimony to the development of Mediterranean civilization over three millennia.
Justification for Inscription:
Criterion (ii): The sites and monuments which form the Syracuse/Pantalica ensemble constitute a unique accumulation, through the ages and in the same space, of remarkable testimonies to Mediterranean cultures.
Criterion (iii): The Syracuse/Pantalica ensemble offers, through its remarkable cultural diversity, an exceptional testimony to the development of civilisation over some three millennia.
Criterion (iv): The group of monuments and archeological sites situated in Syracuse (between the nucleus of Ortygia and the vestiges located throughout the urban area) is the finest example of outstanding architectural creation spanning several cultural aspects (Greek, Roman and Baroque).
Criterion (vi): Ancient Syracuse was directly linked to events, ideas and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
