Legally marry in Ortigia, Siracusa: the comune's magnificent venues for real weddings

Ortigia, the old heart of Siracusa, is one of the most beautiful baroque historic centres in Italy. In September we were at the Comune di Siracusa, in the ufficio matrimoni inside the Stato Civile, settling the last of the paperwork for a couple we are working with. While we were there, we made appointments with the Beni Culturali (cultural heritage) office and went to see where couples can marry legally: places that belong to the comune (the local council) or that it has approved, from its own fairly humdrum offices to a palazzo on Piazza Duomo, a former convent and courtyards in Ortigia, and a small castle outside the city.

British citizens can marry in Siracusa, and the comune is keen that they marry legally in one of the places it has authorised, rather than having a symbolic ceremony.

Read the transcript of the film

On a trip to Siracusa for a couple we're helping get married. The comune opened a few doors for us. We've been first to the ufficio matrimoni in the stato civile. They've sent us to the Beni Culturali. And then from there they've set us up an appointment here in the magnificent Piazza Duomo of Siracusa, in Palazzo Vermexio, where we can see their two wedding venues: the Salone Paolo Borsellino as well as the mayor's room, which they call il Caracciolo. Palazzo Vermexio was built in the 1630s for the city's government, and the comune still runs from here. As soon as you are married in the Salone Paolo Borsellino, you might like to step out onto the balcony and wave to the passers-by in the delightful Piazza Duomo.

This is the comune's own reception hall, with a coffered wooden ceiling and chandeliers. A glorious and historic setting for mid-size weddings and larger.

The comune marries couples here on weekdays and on Saturday afternoons.

Along the corridor is the mayor's own room, the Sala Caracciolo, long known as the Sala Verde. This suits smaller groups of up to 20 people, and it also has a balcony onto Piazza Duomo.

Whether you choose the Salone Paolo Borsellino or the Sala Caracciolo, you'll walk straight out of Palazzo Vermexio onto Piazza Duomo for the photographs.

But what if you'd rather get married outside while still in beautiful Ortigia? Well, for smaller wedding parties, the courtyard of the ex Liceo Gargallo, an old classical school, makes a lovely venue.

You have the whole building to yourselves, including the beautiful courtyard, which will be set out for you with chairs, a table and the flower arch. Weddings here run from April to October.

Another option is the ex Convento del Ritiro, now home to the Beni Culturali office and the Museo Archimede e Leonardo.

Carmelite nuns lived here from the 1720s. The church is deconsecrated now, and the hall is called Spazio Novecento, a gallery of twentieth-century painting with the baroque still overhead, and you can choose to marry in front of the pictures or in the old church nave.

And finally, for something completely different, the Castello del Solacium, an external venue that has been approved by the comune to hold real weddings. Through the gate is the castle's historical garden and an enormous ficus tree. Many couples choose to marry beneath it. Then guests move through the historic Memories Court, the inner courtyard. For a smaller wedding, the garden and this courtyard, with its three ground-floor rooms, can be hired on their own. It is dotted with Greek and Roman artefacts.

Finally, onto the Towers Court, a magnificent space where the dinner and wedding parties happen, and it's available until 2 in the morning. It belongs to Cantine Pupillo, a family winery going back to 1909, and it is perhaps the most romantic setting of all.

There are a range of hire options for different sizes of wedding and budget. The dogs, however, are not included.

Siracusa, like a lot of Italian comuni, would rather couples actually married here than, as so often happens, fly over for a symbolic ceremony and do the legal part at home. We specialise in real weddings in Siracusa and across Sicily. If you'd like to discuss how Married in Sicily can help you, send us an email or get in touch via WhatsApp.

The most prosaic

The saloncino at the Anagrafe offices on Via San Sebastiano wins no awards for glamour. A desk, a few chairs, the flags, a window. What it is, though, is free in office hours. If you want to be legally married as simply as possible and celebrate somewhere else entirely, this is a straightforward option.

Salone Paolo Borsellino, Palazzo Vermexio

Moving on to much grander settings. On the north-east corner of Piazza Duomo, one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, Palazzo Vermexio is the old senate house, built between 1629 and 1633 by Giovanni Vermexio for the city’s government: the mayor works upstairs and the comune runs from the same building.

Its reception hall, named after the anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino, suits mid-sized to large wedding parties. It has a coffered wooden ceiling and glass chandeliers, with windows and a balcony giving onto the square.

Stanza del Sindaco, the Sala Verde

Along the corridor is the mayor’s own room, the Sala Verde, renamed the Sala Caracciolo in 2022 after Raffaello Caracciolo, the city’s longest-serving mayor. It is the one for more intimate weddings, holding up to about twenty people, with green silk walls, a carved map of Ortigia and its own balcony onto Piazza Duomo.

From either venue you come down the stairs and walk straight out into Piazza Duomo for your photographs.

The courtyard at the ex Liceo Gargallo

If you want to combine a beautiful historic building in Ortigia with an outdoor ceremony, this courtyard is an outstanding choice. The ex Liceo Gargallo is the old classical school in the middle of Ortigia. The comune sets the courtyard out with chairs, a table and a flower arch, and for the ceremony it is yours, with nobody else in the building. Outdoor sites run from 1 April to 31 October.

Spazio Novecento, ex Convento del Ritiro

In the ex Convento del Ritiro, where Carmelite nuns lived from 1717 and which is now home to the Beni Culturali offices and the Archimede and Leonardo museum, the Spazio Novecento is a unique space for a wedding. The church is deconsecrated now and works as a gallery, so you marry among the paintings with the baroque still overhead. The convent courtyard alongside is authorised too, from April to October.

Two more worth knowing

Palazzo Mergulense-Montalto is a gothic palazzo of 1397 on a small square, its facade carrying references to all three monotheistic religions, with ceremonies in the first-floor hall. The Cinema Museum, in the former church of the Knights of Malta, is the cheapest with any character, and its collection of magic lanterns and projectors is one of the most important in Italy.

The sunken quarry garden at the Latomie dei Cappuccini still appears on the comune’s tariff sheet, but it is closed for restoration, and the garden at Villa Reimann is no longer in use.

Encouraging real weddings

Siracusa, like many Italian comuni, would far rather couples actually got married here than held a symbolic ceremony and did the legal bit at home. So in recent years it has started authorising some private venues as case comunali, where the registrar travels out and the marriage is legal in Italy and recognised at home.

For sheer drama the standout is the Castello del Solacium, nine kilometres north of the city inside the old borgo at Targia, which belongs to Cantine Pupillo, a family winery going back to 1909. A historical garden with a ficus the size of a house, an inner courtyard with rooms along the ground floor, and a main courtyard under the towers where a hundred and fifty people can eat until two in the morning. Hire is priced by season and the size of the wedding, with catering from outside caterers on top, so we ask the castle for a figure for your date. There are four double rooms on site.

Of the others, Donna Coraly is a country hotel on the Cassibile road, on the estate where the armistice between Italy and the Allies was signed on 3 September 1943. With ten rooms and its own grounds, it is a fantastic choice if you want a whole countryside estate to yourselves, with a party of about twenty all sleeping in the same place. Minareto sits out on the Maddalena peninsula with a terrace looking back across the water at Ortigia. The rest of the comune’s list is Villa dei Papiri, Casal Sikelio, Masseria Case Damma, Punta Maddalena, La Corte 1881 and Monasteri Golf Club Village.

What each venue costs

Some of the most beautiful settings in Sicily belong to the city of Siracusa, and because the comune runs them as a public service, the fees are a fraction of what a private venue would charge, even for couples who live abroad.

Where	Weekday, office hours	Extended hours	Saturday afternoon
Saloncino, Anagrafe	Free	Not available	Not available
Cinema Museum	€100	€170	€200
Stanza del Sindaco	€200	€250	€350
Palazzo Mergulense-Montalto	€230	€380	€460
Spazio Novecento, ex Convento del Ritiro	€230	€380	€460
Courtyards, including the ex Liceo Gargallo	€300	€500	€600
Salone Paolo Borsellino	€320	€540	€640
Approved private venues such as the Castello del Solacium: the comune’s fee only	€250 to €300	€350 to €400	€450 to €500

At the approved private venues the table shows only what the comune charges for the ceremony. Each venue sets its own hire on top, and that is usually the much larger figure, so we ask the venue for a price for your date.

Office hours are Monday to Friday 09:30 to 12:00, with Tuesday and Thursday afternoons 15:30 to 17:00. The extended slots are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 15:30 to 18:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 13:00. Saturday afternoon is 16:00 to 18:00.

These are the comune’s 2026 rates, taken from its own tariff sheet and checked in September 2026. Comuni review their tariffs, and venues change their prices every year, so treat everything here as the picture in 2026 and ask us to confirm the figure for your own date in writing before anything is booked.

Siracusa holds no ceremonies on the day before or the day after a public holiday. The outdoor venues are available from April to October.

The process and next steps

It is possible to organise a real Sicilian wedding yourself, if your Italian is excellent and you have plenty of time on your hands. For two British citizens the paperwork is smaller than people fear: a certificate of no impediment from your own register office, apostilled and translated into Italian, and a bilingual sworn declaration, also apostilled, plus passports and your witnesses’ ID. Unless you are both fluent in Italian, you also need an interpreter, for the declaration you make at the comune a day or two before the wedding and for the wedding. The legal route sets out each step, and if your date is close, what is realistic at short notice explains the timings. For other corners of the island, see where you can legally marry in Sicily.

If you want help with anything from an elopement to a large celebration, message us on WhatsApp, and we will see whether we are a fit.