Tomba di Archimede, Archaeological site in Neapolis, Syracuse, Italy.

The so-called Tomb of Archimedes is an artificial cave cut into limestone within the Grotticelle necropolis, in the northernmost part of the Neapolis archaeological park in Syracuse. Inside, two tiers of niches are carved into the walls to hold cinerary urns. It is a Roman columbarium, not a tomb with a triangular facade.

This burial structure was built in the first century before Christ as a columbarium, a shared tomb for multiple families. It was erected centuries after the mathematician Archimedes lived, despite the local tradition that would later connect it to his name.

The name comes from local tradition, not from archaeology: Cicero described Archimedes' real tomb as bearing a sphere and cylinder, and no geometric figure is cut in this cave. The Grotticelle cavity is a columbarium, a collective burial building of the late Roman Republic and early Empire.

You can view this burial structure from the intersection of Avenue Teracati and Via Saverio Cavallari without needing to enter the archaeological park. The location is easy to reach and offers a clear view of the niche graves from the outside.

Cicero wrote that Archimedes' real tomb carried a sphere and cylinder, the figures he had asked to be carved; this cave has no geometric carving at all. The cavity lies in the Grotticelle necropolis, at the northern end of the Neapolis park, far from the Agrigentine Gate that Cicero names.