SAN NICOLO’ DEI CORDARI

The church of San Nicolò dei Cordari is famous because there were celebrated the funerals of Giordano, comte of Siracusa and son of Ruggero.It has been built during the Norman period ( 11th century ), a period of great social, cultural, economic and artistic development. Many churches and religious places were both restored and built.
Since 1577, the church becomes under the Cordari family a church of corporation not far from their work place, the Grotta dei Cordari.
San Nicolò is an example of norman architecture in Siracusa. It has been built on the rocks, very close to the east entry of the Archaeological Park. The church is oriented east-west and it’s very simple in its forms and decorations. It is small (16 x 8 meters) with a rectangular planning formed by only one nave ending in an apse with three windows carved in the stone.
The church rises on an hypogeic monument of the greek period, the so-called “Piscina Romana” ( 20 x 7 meters ). It was a part of a greek water system, linked to the Anfiteatro in order to wash it after he fights or, maybe, to fill it for water battles. During the Byzantine pariod, the Piscina became a crypt, with a vault and three naves; in the XVII centuy, during the years of pestilence, it was used as a common grave.
Recently, in the 90’s, a restoration of the roof and floor has been carried out by the Archaeological Superintendence of Siracusa. During an archaeological exploration, tombs belonging to the close Latomia del Paradiso have been discovered. The tombs date 1st – 2nd century a.C. and have different styles: a fossa, a bauletto and a cappuccina.