Necropolis of Pantalica

The Necropolis of Pantalica is one of the Mediterranean’s largest prehistoric burial sites, spread through the steep limestone gorges of the Anapo and Calcinara rivers near Sortino in south-eastern Sicily. Between 4,000 and 5,000 rock-cut chamber tombs are honeycombed into the cliffs, giving the ravines an austere, almost otherworldly presence.

The site dates chiefly from the 13th to the 7th centuries BC, spanning the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. It was a stronghold of the Sikels, an indigenous Sicilian people who moved inland into these naturally fortified canyons to escape coastal invaders. From the valley, the tomb openings appear like a thousand dark eyes set into the rock; most are modest elliptical or rectangular chambers intended for inhumation burial.

On the highest plateau stand the remains of the Anaktoron, or Prince’s Palace, the site’s only free-standing megalithic building. Its construction shows a strong Mycenaean influence, offering a glimpse of the connections and cultural currents that reached prehistoric Sicily.

Pantalica was sought out again many centuries later, when Byzantine communities found refuge here around the 9th and 10th centuries AD. They enlarged prehistoric caves into dwellings and stables, and established rock-cut oratories, including San Micidiario and San Nicolicchio, whose frescoes remain among the traces of this later occupation.

A flat walking and cycling trail follows the canyon floor along the route of a dismantled 1920s railway. It passes through original tunnels, providing a gentler way to experience the scale of the ravines below the cliffs and the densely layered history of the site.