Fonte Aretusa
Fountain
Fonte Aretusa
Mythical spring in Syracuse
Following the Via Picherali from the Cathedral Square, you will reach the Fonte Arethusa, the spring of Arethusa. Right next to the sea, a small freshwater spring rises here. In its pond papyrus grow today. According to legend, the nymph Arethusa fled from the Greek river god Alpheus, jumped into the sea in the Peloponnese and appeared only recently in Ortigia again. Here she was transformed by the goddess Artemis into a spring. Subsequently the spring allowed the residents of Syracuse to survive even long sieges by drinking its fresh water. The spring also has a memorial plaque to the Roman poet Virgil, who immortalized the Greek myth of Theocritus in a Latin song.
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