SiracusaAugusta.
The town first rose in the neighbouring territory of Megara Hyblaea, which was founded by the Greeks of Megara in about 728 BC, and conquered and destroyed by Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, in about 428 BC. Rebuilt, very likely by the Roman Emperor Augustus, it was again destroyed in the Middle Ages by the Saracens. The Normans built a fortified port here, which Frederick II of Swabia in 1232 transformed into one of the most important military defences on the E coast of Sicily; he also gave it its present name and enlarged it with the inhabitants of two towns which had rebelled and been destroyed, Centuripe and Montalbano. It was captured in 1268 by the Angevins, after a long siege; it passed to the Aragonese and became the fief of some great Sicilian families (the Moncadas and the Chiaromontes). It was a1ways an important military port, and it was further fortified in the 16th c. because of the persistent harassment by the Turks. It was from Augusta that the Christian fleet which defeated theTurks at Lèpantoin 1571 set sail. The town was seriously damaged in l676 during the Franco-Spanish war, and completely destroyed by the earth- quake in l693. During World War II the Allied Forces landed at Augusta on 10 July 1943, starting the occupation of Sicily.

Entering the town through Porta Spagnola, built by the Viceroy Benavides in l631, we immediately come to the massive Castle, a solid compact construction, one of the rni1itary structures created by Frederick II to fortify and defend this part of Sicily. The castle was built between 1231 and 1242. It is of regular square plan, with rooms arranged around a central courtyard; the outer perimeter is further fortified by quadrangular corner towers. The Castle has been much damaged and restored in the course of time, especially in the inner part. The Duomo, built in 1644, stands in Piazza del Duomo. It underwent lengthy restoration after the 1693 earthquake. The nave and two aisles are separated by pillars. There is a Byzantine-style Madonna and Child. In the same square the Town Hall, 1699, is characterized by its long balcony and the Swabian eagle at the centre of the cornice.