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| | south towns |
 | | The city monuments include: the Roman amphitheatre (2nd century BC.), the Pisan-Romanesque cathedral (13th-14th century, restructured in Baroque style in 17th century) with fine Romanesque pulpits, the 14th century towers of the Elefante and S. Pancrazio, the church of the Purissima (16th century, Aragonese-Gothic), the church of SS. |
 | | With the passing of the centuries, Byzantine rule became a mere formality, especially during the 8th and 9th centuries, when Saracen influence was particularly strong and the city frequently sacked and devastated. |
 | | Founded by Greek settlers in the 8th century BC., under the various tyrants that ruled it, Syracuse grew to became of economic and political importance in the Mediterranean, often engaged in struggles against the Greeks themselves and the Carthaginians, as well as against the other Siculi towns in Magna Grecia. |
| www.elsdatabank.com /italyontheweb/italy2/town_south.htm |
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