The Duomo in Syracuse is one of the most atmospheric religious buildings I have visited. It was originally constructed by the Greeks as a Doric temple dedicated to Athena in the 4C BC. After continual use as a Greek and Roman temple, and possibly a brief period as a mosque it was converted to a church in the C7 AD. The conversion was simple and effective. Walls were constructed between the outer columns and the solid walls of the internal cella had arches carved through them to open up the central nave. The interior has changed little since that original work with the columns of the Greek temple still clearly visible both inside and out. In the great Sicilian earthquake of 1693 the western facade was damaged and it was then replaced by a new facade in soaring Sicilian baroque. The result is a building which has been in continuous use as a religious shrine for some 2,500 years and a place of quite considerable atmosphere. The trip to Sicily is well worth it for this one building alone!