{"id":866,"date":"2026-03-29T11:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T11:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/?p=866"},"modified":"2026-03-29T11:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T11:11:33","slug":"aretusa-la-ninfa-che-scelse-siracusa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/2026\/03\/29\/aretusa-la-ninfa-che-scelse-siracusa\/","title":{"rendered":"Arethusa: the nymph who chose Syracuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that\u2026 There\u2019s a fountain on the Ortigia waterfront where fresh water flows just a few meters from the open sea. It\u2019s not a modern engineering feat; it\u2019s been there for over 2,700 years, and it has a history behind it that\u2019s worth learning about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to mythology, Arethusa was a shy and reserved hunting nymph in the service of Artemis. One day, while bathing in a river in Arcadia, Greece, she caught the attention of the river god Alpheus, who fell madly in love with her. She fled across the sea; he pursued her. Exhausted, Arethusa asked Artemis for help, who transformed her into a freshwater spring and brought her here, to the island of Ortigia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alpheus, determined to reach her, refused to give up: he channeled his waters beneath the seabed of the Mediterranean, from Greece all the way to Sicily. Even today, it is said that on days when the sea is rough, golden reflections can be glimpsed in the spring\u2014signs of his distant presence.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s something you might not know: the papyrus plants growing in the fountain are the same ones the Egyptians used to make paper. How they ended up here, no one really knows. That\u2019s Syracuse for you\u2014it always leaves you wondering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you know that\u2026 There's a spring along the Ortigia waterfront where freshwater rises just metres from the open sea. It's not modern engineering \u2014 it's been here for over 2,700 years, and behind it is a story worth knowing. Mythology tells us that Arethusa was a huntress nymph in the service of Artemis, solitary...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miti-e-leggende","tag-curiosita-e-storia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882,"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions\/882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siraku.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}