The Ortigia market is Syracuse's morning street market, strung along Via Emanuele De Benedictis and the lanes around it, a few steps from the Temple of Apollo at the northern end of Ortigia island. Stallholders sell fish landed nearby, Syracuse lemons, cheese and spices, and many still call out their goods in Sicilian, a tradition known as the vanniata. Until the 1980s the market was held indoors, in a covered market hall built around 1900.
The Ortigia market at a glance
- Where: Via Emanuele De Benedictis and the neighbouring streets, just east of the Temple of Apollo, at the entrance to Ortigia.
- Opened: in its present streets since the 1980s; the old covered market building nearby dates from around 1900.
- What it is today: a working food market used by locals, with fish, fruit, vegetable, cheese and spice stalls, plus delis serving sandwiches and seafood.
- Time needed: 45–60 minutes, longer if you stop to eat.
From a covered hall to an open street
People have bought and sold food in Ortigia for as long as Syracuse has existed, and the market still shows the island's mixed past. The Arab conquest of Syracuse in 878 helped bring citrus, spices and new ways of cooking to Sicily, and you will find all of them on today's stalls, next to the fish that has always come in from the sea around the island.
At the end of the 19th century the city built a covered market, the Antico Mercato, on the remains of the old Spanish walls close to the Temple of Apollo; it was finished around 1900. Trading went on inside until the 1980s, when the stalls moved out into Via De Benedictis and the streets around it, where you find them now. The old building still stands nearby, a reminder of where the market came from.
What to look for
- The fish stalls: swordfish, anchovies, prawns and, from June to October, tuna, laid out on ice and cut to order.
- Raw seafood: some stalls open sea urchins, oysters and clams for you to eat on the spot with a squeeze of lemon.
- Piles of Syracuse lemons and oranges. The Limone di Siracusa has its own protected status (IGP), and you will see it in everything from granita to soap.
- Cheese counters with fresh ricotta, pecorino and caciocavallo, next to cured meats from the countryside around Syracuse.
- Spice and dried-fruit stalls, soaps scented with prickly pear, lemon or jasmine, and hand-woven baskets.
The vendors' cries
The vanniata, from the Sicilian vanniari, to call out, is the market's soundtrack. Sellers advertise their goods with shouts, jokes and improvised rhymes, and they often aim them straight at passing visitors. The same tradition lives on in Palermo's big street markets, but Ortigia's is small enough that you can stand in one spot and follow the exchanges from stall to stall.
Tips for your visit
- It is a morning market: come early, when the fish is freshest and the stalls are at their busiest.
- Ask before taking close-up photos of stallholders, and buy something if you take a lot of pictures at one stall.
- Have lunch here: several delis along the street make sandwiches and seafood plates from what is on sale, then walk it off along Corso Matteotti towards Piazza Archimede.
Nearby
- Temple of Apollo: the remains of the oldest Doric temple in Sicily, from the early 6th century BC, right at the western end of the market.
- Fountain of Diana: the early 20th-century fountain by Giulio Moschetti in the middle of Piazza Archimede, a few minutes' walk south.
- Syracuse Cathedral: the church built into the Temple of Athena, where Doric columns still stand inside the walls, about 10 minutes' walk south.
- Statue of Archimedes: the bronze statue by Pietro Marchese between the two bridges at the entrance to Ortigia, showing Archimedes holding a mirror.
See Syracuse with World City Trail
Our Syracuse scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 36 minutes of walking. It takes you through Ortigia and includes the Archimedes monument just by the bridges, the Foro Siracusano and the church of San Tommaso al Pantheon.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Syracuse.
Play the Syracuse scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Syracuse →
Play the outdoor escape game in Syracuse →
Facts checked in October 2026.