Olympic Torch Milan Cortina 2026: Syracuse lights up the Mediterranean with its embrace

Syracuse, December 17, 2025 - The Olympic flame continues its journey through Italy and lands in one of the Mediterranean's most fascinating cities: Syracuse. After Palermo and Agrigento, the symbolic fire of the Games arrives in a land that bears the marks of Greek culture, the very mother of the Olympics, turning this day into a return to the origins.

The route will start at dawn from the Greek Theater, a place that has been home to immortal stories, dramas and myths for over two thousand years. It is here that the Olympic fire will take its first Syracusan steps, before crossing the streets of the city. The flashlight will continue along the sea, get lost in the alleys of Ortigia with its Baroque cathedral and white stone squares, all the way to the city's beating heart, the Big Harbor, where myth and history come together in a unique setting.

The passage will end at one of the oldest symbols of Syracuse, the Temple of Apollo, as if to close an ideal circle between the fire of the gods and that which unites athletes of every nation today.

Making this stage even more special will be the torchbearers - athletes, students, volunteers, but also ordinary citizens chosen to represent the community. "I didn't think I would one day carry the Olympic torch," she says excitedly. Mary, 19, Syracuse student. "I feel I am taking a piece of my city, of our thousand-year history, with me to the whole world."

A thought also shared by Salvatore, former local track and field athlete, who confides, "I competed many years ago for the colors of Sicily. Today running with the flashlight is like being young again, but with the knowledge of living a moment that will remain in everyone's memory."

Syracuse, on this day, will not only be the scene of a sporting event: it will become a world stage which will showcase its timeless beauty. Visitors and the millions of connected viewers from around the world will discover the enchantment of the Neapolis Archaeological Park, the majesty of the Maniace Castle by the sea, the vibrant energy of the Ortigia market, and there will be no shortage of authentic flavors: from citrus granitas to fresh fish to the queen of the Sicilian table, the pasta alla Norma.

Welcoming the flame, the mayor of Syracuse said, "This is not only a stage of the Olympic relay, it is a moment when Syracuse becomes a universal symbol of peace and encounter between cultures, just as it was two thousand years ago."

The December 17, 2025 will remain in memory as a day when Syracuse was able to merge myth, culture and sports into a single narrative. The Olympic flashlight will not only be a symbol of passage, but a bridge that will unite the legacy of Magna Graecia with the future of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

A fire that, on the shores of the Mediterranean, really seems to find its home.