Chiesa di San Filippo Apostolo

Useful Information

Location:	Via Vittorio Veneto, 83, 96100 Syracuse SR, 96100. (37.06022, 15.29669)
Open:	Church: All year Mon-Sat 7:30-19, Sun 9:30-12, 17-19. Underground tours: All year Mon-Sat 10-12:30, 15-17. [2024]
Fee:	Church: free. Underground tours: . [2024]
Classification:	Crypt World War II Bunker Water Supply
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	VR=18 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Angela Scandaliato, Nuccio Mulè (2021): La chiesa di San Filippo Apostolo e il battistero di San Giovanni nella Giudecca di Siracusa. Il ritorno della Memoria, Casa Editrice Giuntina Srl, pp 304, ISBN: 9788880578994. online
Address:	Chiesa di San Filippo Apostolo, Via Vittorio Veneto, 83, 96100 Syracuse SR, 96100, Tel: +39-0931489511. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1492	the Inquisition drives the Jews out of Sicily.
1693	during the earthquake the buildings on the site are destroyed.
1742	Church of St. Philip the Apostle consecrated.
10-JUL-1943	church damaged by a bomb.
1968	church closed for worship due to the danger of collapse.
1986	Superintendency orders the demolition of the tall and heavy dome.
2010	church reopened for worship.
2016	underground tours started.

Description

Chiesa di San Filippo Apostolo (Church of St. Philip the Apostle) was built on top of a medieval synagogue in 1743. Below the church lies a burial crypt, a tunnel system, and a Jewish ritual bath. The underground structure was probably started when the Corinthians arrived in Ortigia in 734 BC and the started to excavate rocks for the buildings they erected underground. Most likely those quarries were located below Piazza Duomo and Piazza San Filippo. Also, numerous openings were made in search of water, Ortiga had almost a hundred wells. The place of the church was used both as a quarry and as a place to extract fresh water. When the city grew, the whole island was built over, and only a small access to the fresh water well remained. The Jews came to Sicily during Swabian and later Aragonese periods, but they were only allowed to live in certain cities forming Jewish communities. The Syracuse neighborhood was named Giudecca and was among the largest.

The Jewish ritual bath is named mikvah, and was used by women for a purification ritual before marriage, after childbirth, and then after every menstrual period. The name Asher is etched in Hebrew on the limestone wall. Most likely it is the name of the person who built the bath. There is a reason why it was built here: there is a clear and cold underground spring which provided water for the bath. Three steps are leading into the bath, because three is a kabballistic symbol of harmony. The mikvah is 18 m below street level, the number 18 represents the symbol for chai, the will of God.

Okay, there is a lot of ritualistic "number magic" in the kabbalah. Nevertheless, the last statement is obviously nonsense, although it is published by guidebooks. There are at least two reasons, first, the street level changes over time and was definitely different a thousand years ago when the bath was built. And secondly, at that time the unit meter was not yet defined. It has some history, but it was originally defined in 1791 by the French National Assembly. And that is 300 years after the Jews were cast out. So there is definitely no kabbalistic number 18.

The second underground level was constructed much earlier by the Greeks as a water system. But it became quite important for the city during World War II, when it was transformed into an air raid shelter. There are many tunnels and passages below the island of Ortigia, from San Giuseppe Square to the sea. Numerous were transformed into bunkers, and they protected over 10,000 citizens of Syracuse during the Allied bombing. The people waiting in the dark bunker were drawing graffiti on the wall, which show British planes and parachutes.

The uppermost level is the crypt of the church. It shows frescoes depicting the Stations of the Cross from the 18th and 19th century. There are also memento mori, which were paid by wealthy congregates, who are buried in the crypt. On the floor there are ceramic stars which mark the burial places of the members of the archconfraternity. They were buried here until burial within the city walls was prohibited at the beginning of the 19th century.