Liberty style
Built at the end of the nineteenth century, the Hotel is now more than a hundred years old, and although it was completely renovated in 1995, it maintains the original architectural lines and the charm of the Liberty style. Inside, the Spanish Walls (Sala Bastione) and other archaeological finds in the so-called “Small Museum” are preserved in perfect condition.
The origins
The origins of the Grand Hotel lie at a particularly significant juncture in the contemporary history of Syracuse: the years immediately following the demolition of the sixteenth-century fortifications that surrounded the island of Ortigia.
The demolition of the walls was a disruptive event full of symbolic values and opened new perspectives of urban expansion and the affirmation of the new social elites.
At the beginning of the new century, the intertwining of culture, tourism and entrepreneurship began to become evident. The Grand Hotel becomes a symbol of it.
The first news of the inauguration of the Grand Hotel is in the Gazzetta di Siracusa on January 20, 1900. The title reads: Musical evenings at the Grand Hotel.
Since then, the Grand Hotel will begin to fill the pages of advertising and of the city news. In the liberty setting of the Sala dei Fiori e dei Cristalli (now Sala Athena) the local bourgeois and aristocrats, together with passing tourists, could attend the first film screenings, and the “Elegant Ladies” could admire the fashion shows created by the best national and international tailors.
A balanced blend of tourism, business and social life seems to place the Grand Hotel in one of the busiest and most dynamic hubs of the city’s social life.
The restoration
In the years from 1991 to 1995 the hotel underwent a profound restoration which, on the one hand, maintains the original architecture and, on the other, optimizes existing spaces (basements).
Now, a few meters from the sea, in one of the most naturalistic areas of the Mediterranean, in an environment full of history and glorious past events, the Grand Hotel continues to offer hospitality with the same elegance and discretion of its early beginnings.
The rooms, luxuriously furnished and overlooking the sea, are equipped with: direct dial telephone, safe with electronic combination, air conditioning, satellite color TV, automatic alarm clock radio, mini bar.
The property is also equipped with: rooms for the disabled, meeting rooms, conference rooms, bar located in the ancient cistern, roof – garden restaurant overlooking the Grand Harbor and the Lungomare di Ortigia, private beach served by shuttle.
Sources:
“Per una storia del Grand Hotel da fine ‘800 agli anni ’30 di Salvatore Adorno”
Traces from the historical report attached to the restoration and conservative rehabilitation project carried out between 1991 and 1995
Piccolo Museo
At the Grand Hotel Ortigia the Spanish Walls (Bastione Room) and other archaeological finds are preserved in the so-called “Piccolo Museo” area.
Grand Hotel Ortigia – Prisma Srl – Viale Mazzini, 12 – 96100 Siracusa
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