San Filippo Apostolo (St Philip the Apostle) is an 18th-century church on Via della Giudecca, in the old Jewish quarter of Ortigia, the island at the centre of Syracuse. From the outside it looks like one more Baroque parish church. Below it, three underground levels lead down a spiral staircase to a spring about 18 metres under the street, which many scholars identify as a mikveh, a Jewish ritual bath from before the expulsion of 1492.
San Filippo Apostolo at a glance
- Where: Piazza San Filippo on Via della Giudecca, in the Giudecca quarter of Ortigia, a few minutes' walk from Piazza Duomo.
- Built: rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 and consecrated in 1742.
- What it is today: a working church, seat of the Arciconfraternita di San Filippo, with guided visits to the underground levels run by parish volunteers since 2016.
- Time needed: about 45 minutes, most of it underground on a guided visit.
From the Giudecca to a confraternity church
Until the end of the 15th century this part of Ortigia was the Giudecca, home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Sicily. In 1492 the Spanish crown, which ruled Sicily, ordered the Jews to convert or leave, and the quarter changed hands. A long local tradition holds that San Filippo stands on the site of a medieval synagogue; other researchers place the synagogue under the nearby church of San Giovanni Battista instead, so treat the claim as open. The present church was put up by the Confraternity of St Philip after the 1693 earthquake had wrecked much of south-eastern Sicily, and it was consecrated in 1742.
The church was damaged by bombing in the Second World War and closed in 1968 because of structural problems. After a long restoration it reopened in 2010, and since 2016 the parish has opened its underground to visitors. In 2019 the archaeologists Yonatan Adler and Nadia Zeldes presented a study of the deep pool and a Hebrew inscription found there. Not everyone agrees: the Union of Italian Jewish Communities has said that the only proven mikveh in Ortigia is the one in Via Alagona, a short walk away.
What to look for
- The crypt, the first level down: 18th-century frescoes of the Stations of the Cross and memento mori images of skeletons, painted over the burial places of the confraternity's members.
- The tunnels of the second level: ancient water channels that were used as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War. Look for wartime graffiti scratched into the walls, including aircraft.
- The spiral staircase of the third level: steps cut around an old well shaft, added in the late 15th century, that wind down to the spring.
- The pool itself, still filled with clear, cold spring water, and the Hebrew inscription on the rock that the guides point out.
- Back outside, the Baroque façade on Piazza San Filippo, best seen from across the small square.
A mikveh or not?
A mikveh must be filled with natural, living water, such as a spring, which is why the deep spring under San Filippo fits the description so well. Guides tell the story of Jewish women coming down here for ritual purification before marriage and after childbirth. That is the traditional use of a mikveh, but there is no written record of who used this particular pool, so enjoy the story and keep the debate in mind.
Tips for your visit
- The underground can only be seen on a guided visit. Check the parish's current schedule before you go, as it changes with the season.
- The steps are narrow, steep and damp, and the lowest level is cramped. Wear shoes with grip and skip it if you have trouble with stairs or tight spaces.
- It is a working church: visits stop during services, and modest dress is expected inside.
- To compare, visit the Miqweh of Via Alagona on the same day. Seeing both makes the debate much easier to follow.
Nearby
- Miqweh of Via Alagona: a ritual bath with three pools carved in the rock about 18 metres down, under a historic building now used as a hotel, a short walk away in the same quarter.
- San Giovanni Battista (San Giovannello): the small church of Piazza del Precursore, where some historians place the old synagogue.
- Piazza Duomo: Ortigia's main square, with the cathedral built into the columns of a Greek temple of Athena from the 5th century BC.
- Fountain of Arethusa: the freshwater spring with papyrus plants on the Ortigia seafront, tied to the myth of the nymph Arethusa.
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Facts checked in October 2026.