The Museo del Papiro «Corrado Basile» stands in via Nizza, in the former convent of Sant'Agostino in Ortigia, the old heart of Siracusa, and is devoted to the history and making of papyrus.
What to see
The museum was created and is run by the Istituto internazionale del papiro, a non-profit body founded in 1987 by Corrado Basile and Anna Di Natale, which is concerned with the study, conservation and popularisation of papyrus culture. For the completeness of its finds and its educational work, despite its modest size, it was included in 1995 among the museums shortlisted for the European Museum of the Year Award. Since 2014 it has been housed in the former convent of Sant'Agostino, where it has more room, and in 2016 it acquired a papyrus bearing a fragment of Aristotle's De caelo.
The rooms display Pharaonic, hieratic, demotic, Greek and Coptic papyri, papyri produced in Siracusa from the 19th century onward, artefacts such as ropes, mats, containers and sandals, and papyrus boats from Ethiopia and Lake Chad, with documentation on how they were made. There is also a herbarium of Cyperus papyrus umbels gathered along the Nile, at Lake Chad, in Israel and in Sicily, the tools and materials used for writing, and wall decorations showing papyrus and its uses.
Visiting
Visitors can watch papyrus paper being made and get a lively picture of the history of this plant from its origins to today; opening hours, tickets and closing days should be checked on the official website before visiting.
Our editors' tip
Look closely at the paper worked by hand from the plant's stem, then look for living papyrus in Ortigia: in Siracusa the plant still grows along the Ciane river and at the Fonte Aretusa, and the museum is directly involved in protecting it.
