We took another day trip today - this time even further south than Catania - to visit the city of Syracuse, or Siracusa. Syracuse was a major city in ancient Greek times and was a competitor to Athens, so there is a lot to see here. The city is also divided into two parts - the mainland and a small island called Ortygia. Its about a 2.5 hour train ride from Taormina, and we arrived around 10 AM. Our train back to Taormina left at 5:30 PM, and we tried to cram it all into a few hours.
We started out visiting the sites on the mainland. Of course, given our short time frame, the first we thing we did was go the wrong way out of the train station - but it turned out to work in our favor, since we got the chance to see a small ruins that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. The site was the Ginnasio Romano, or Roman Gymnasium (which was actually a small amphitheater. Our guidebook says not many people visit the site, and they weren't kidding - it barely looks "discovered", as its covered in deep weeds.
Next, we went back in the right direction to visit the Catacombs of St. John. Here, we had a tour of a church from the 6th century, which was destroyed and rebuilt by many different groups over time. Under the church we saw the catacombs, about 10,000 square meters in size, with over 20,000 tombs. The Chrisitans actually used underground aqueducts dug by the Greeks, so these catacombs were much more spacious (wider aisles and large areas where the sisterns were located) than those we had seen before when we were in Rome a few years ago.
From here we went to visit what was probably the most impressive site - the Parco Archeologico della Neapolis - the archeological park which contains several sites. The first one we saw was a Roman Amphitheater, the third largest in Italy after Rome and Verona. Just like the Colloseum, this amphitheater was used for gladiator fights and other similar events. The second site was the Ara di Lerone, or the the Altar of Heron. This is an older site (from the Greeks) and was not as well preserved as the amphitheater, but likely saw some bloodier events - the Greeks could sacrifice up to 450 oxen at once here. The altar was 643' x 75' (it was huge).
Just down the road from the altar, we saw the Teatro Greco, a Greek Theater. This theater is definitely not in mint condition anymore - it saw the work of Sophocles and Euripides - but for a theater from the 5th century BC, it is in amazing shape. It is also surprisingly large - it could seat 16,000 people.
The last site we saw here is called the Latomia del Paradiso - the Garden of Paradise - which is a limestone quarry from the times of the Greeks. There are many caves left behind from the quarries, and the one we were able to go into is called the Orecchio di Dioniso (the Ear of Dionysius). Its just crazy to walk inside - its about 70 feet high and 190 feet deep, and they haven't installed any lights so its pretty dark. The exciting feature are the really loud echos that you hear when you make noises inside the cave. We tried to capture it on video. From here, we walked over the check out the sites on the island of Ortygia. As we crossed over the bridge to get there, it does give a sense of being in Venice - the small canal, the limestone bridge, and the palazzos of the same design you would find in Venice. Once on the island, the first thing we saw were the ruins of a Greek Temple - the Temple of Apollo. From there, we walked through some narrow streets to get to the perimeter road. We walked along here until we reached the southern tip of the island, where there is a large castle that turned Ortygia into an island fortress, and is still used as a barracks.
We continued around the island until we arrived at a fountain where fresh water still bubbles up from an artesian well. Papyrus plants were growing here! Next, we went into the center of the island where we found a large piazza that houses the main duomo and other large palazzo (palaces). The duomo had an ornate facade, but pretty simple interior. The interesting part of the cathedral was that it started off as a Greek Temple, and the original columns are still used as a the support columns for the current cathedral.
Our last stop in Ortygia was the Jewish Quarter - the first signs of Judaism in 25 days! We walked into the small Alla Giudecca Hotel, where an amazing discovery was found only 20 years ago during renovations. Apparently, there used to be a synangogue here that Jews were using during the 6th century BC (not sure about the date). When the Jews were expelled in 1492 with the Spanish Inquisition, they blocked up the entrace to a mikvah (ritual baths) that were located 60 feet below the synangogue, three feet above sea level. During the hotel renovations, they found the wall that blocked the entrance to the mikvah, and down a long flight of stairs they found three rooms - one with three baths, and two with single baths. The baths are still naturally filled with fresh water and have to be pumped out or they flood the room overnight. It was only a 10 minute tour, but it was pretty neat to see.
Then we walked back to the train station and arrived back in Taormina around 8:15 PM. While we were waiting for the bus to take us up the hill, we saw two separate "just married" couples stop to take wedding pictures at the train station, which is really gorgeous. We finally got home (the bus never came so we split a cab with two Swedes), and we had dinner out at a restaurant with some live music, ranging from Bosa Nova, Sting, Beatles, Stevie Wonder, the Eagles and more which he all sang in italian. It was a nice relaxing evening after a really long day.
Gelato Gusti per il giorno:
Mike - Cannoli e Kinder (Canoli flavor and a type of candy bar here) and Banana e Mandorino
Aviva - Ricotta e Pera and Stracciatella e After Eight (mint)
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