Following some sources, Augusta was founded by the emperor Augusto in 42 b. C.. But Frederick 2nd of Swabia changed it into a strategic town during his first journey in Sicily.
Of that period Augusta keeps its urban chessboard map and the wide size of the Swabian castle, changed in jail by the Borbons at the end of 19th century, role kept until the Seventies.
Augusta became important military harbour in the Aragon period and in 1571 it hosted the Christian shipping that would have faced the Turkish in Lepanto.
It had a strategic role in the control of the routes of Mediterranean sea, even during the second world war. Still today, Augusta is an important Navy district.
The entrance of the most ancient part of the town is the Spanish Door, built in 1681. South, the town appears on the roadsted of Augusta, contained from a wide outer breakwater.
In the harbour there are the Spanish fortifications of the town, the Garcia and Vittoria forts (carried out towards the middle of the 16th century) and the Avalos fort, built in 1569.
In the historical centre the church of the Saint Souls (17th century); St Joseph; the Annunciation; the monastery and the church of the Dominican Monks (16th century on a 13th century map); the cathedral, built from 1644, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 and finished in 1769.
Finally, the town hall (1699) with a Swabian imperial eagle on the front and a dial built to remind the total eclipse of 1870.
“Archive A.P.T. Syracuse”
Megara Hyblaea (Foto: E. Zinna)
Porta Spagnola (Foto: G. Leone)
Castello Svevo (Foto: L. Nifosi)
