Ortigia is the island at the heart of Siracusa — small enough to walk entirely in an hour, dense enough to occupy you for days. The Greek colony of Syracuse was founded here around 734 BC, and virtually every subsequent civilisation left something: Greek temple columns embedded in the cathedral, an Arab warren of streets, Norman fortifications, Spanish Baroque palaces, and Fascist-era public buildings that somehow don't seem out of place.
The island is connected to the mainland by two short bridges and is predominantly pedestrian. The Piazza del Duomo is the obvious centre — baroque-colonnaded, cafe-lined, and extremely beautiful — but the quieter streets running down toward the south and east tip of the island, toward the Castello Maniace, reward wandering. The morning fish market near the Tempio di Apollo is one of the most vivid markets in Sicily.