Palazzo Artemide

Palazzo Artemide

Palazzo Artemide sits on via Roma, Syracuse's most central street, wedged between the Cathedral and the Archbishopric on Piazza Minerva, which flows straight into Piazza Duomo. The building went up in 1880, and behind its Baroque neighbors it still carries the character of that century: limestone cut from the same quarries as Greek temples and Sicilian Baroque palaces, courtyards inherited from the island's Arab architecture, and a restaurant ceiling built from tuff dammuso vaults, a construction method few Ortygia hotels can claim. Every one of the forty-five rooms across its four floors opens onto a private balcony, and a small roof garden gives a second, quieter view over the old town. Inside, there's a sauna and massage room, a conference hall for anyone mixing business with the trip, and a tour desk that will book the excursions guests haven't thought of yet. Staff switch between English and Italian without missing a beat, bikes and cars can be arranged at the desk, and pets travel free of hassle for a 30 euro deposit. This is a hotel for people who want to be inside Ortygia's old stone rather than looking at it from a shuttle bus, and for those who'd rather sit in a converted 1880s courtyard than a hotel lobby built last year. It will frustrate anyone hoping for a beach club or a resort-sized spa, since the pull here is architecture and location, not scale. A cleaning tax is settled separately at checkout, a small formality against a building that has stood on this corner since before Syracuse had electric light. Palazzo Artemide sits inside Ortygia's old stone, between Syracuse's Cathedral and Piazza Minerva, in an 1880s building with tuff dammuso vaults and balconies on every room. It suits travelers who want the historic center itself, not travelers chasing a beach resort or a big spa.