Ear of Dionysius

The Ear of Dionysius is a man-made cavern that behaves like a musical instrument. It was cut into the limestone of the Temenites hill in Syracuse, inside the ancient quarry known as the Latomia del Paradiso, just below the Greek Theatre. The chamber rises about 23 m, is between 5 and 11 m wide and runs some 65 m into the rock. In plan it curves in a lazy S, and in section it narrows to a point at the top like a teardrop, a shape that makes even a quiet sound travel and resonate through the whole space.

Its outline comes from the way it was dug. Quarrymen first followed a narrow channel near the top, apparently an older water conduit, and then cut downwards and outwards from it, which is why the slot is still visible in the ceiling. Whether the cave was simply a quarry, a water store or something intended to amplify sound has been debated for centuries. The name dates from 1608, when the painter Caravaggio, taken there by the Syracusan historian Vincenzo Mirabella, compared its shape to an ear and linked it to the tyrant Dionysius I. The story that grew from this, told as legend, holds that Dionysius locked up his opponents inside and listened to their whispers from a hidden opening above.

The Ear became a fixture of the Grand Tour. Pietro Della Valle came in 1625 and tested the echo with musical instruments; the French painter Jean-Pierre Houël drew it around 1770 and experimented with horns, shots and drums; Guy de Maupassant and Jules Verne both wrote about it. The focal point from which eavesdropping was supposedly possible can no longer be reached, but the echo inside still works for any visitor who speaks or sings. Next door lies the Grotta dei Cordari, a pillared quarry cave once used by rope makers, parts of which are closed because of falling rock. More recently the Ear served as a location for the 2023 film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Getting there

The cave is part of the Neapolis Archaeological Park on the western side of Syracuse, about 1 km from the city centre, and is visited together with the Greek Theatre and the Roman amphitheatre. The nearest airport is Catania-Fontanarossa (CTA), about 47 km to the north.