Syracuse

Syracuse was probably our best day trip so far. On a gorgeous Saturday we headed about an hour and a half south to the 2700 year old city of Syracuse. Syracuse was described by Cicero in the 1st century bc as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all.” It was founded by Greek Corinthians, was once the most powerful city in the Mediterranean and has also been held by the Greeks, the Byzantine Empire, Normans and Arabs and on and on… . Shannon and I were the most famous people in town that day but before Saint Paul preached here, Plato visited a few times and Archimedes called Syracuse home.
We started off by visiting the ruins of the Temple of Hercules, which is right in the middle of town then headed over to the Duomo. This cathedral was probably my favorite that we’ve come across so far. It was originally built as a temple to Athena in the 5th century BC and then turned into a Church, later a Mosque and then turned back into a Cathedral by the Byzantines. As a result, it has a lot of neat architecture with ancient Doric columns. Next we came across a museum that allows you to tour tunnels used by people during German and Allied bombings in WWII. The tunnels were short and winding and had a huge cistern to keep the people hydrated for days. There were informative pictures and plaques. One told the story of how after a brutal barrage by the allies, people finally emerged from underground they were shocked to find their harbor was filled with Allied ships and they were already unloading their supplies onto the docks.
Afterwards we found an aquarium featuring Mediterranean sea life. Shannon enjoyed playing with a big turtle. We toured the fish market but didn’t buy anything. The Ear of Dionysius is a cave with only one exit. The story is that Dionysius used to use it as a prison and keep many of his enemies there. Because of the unique shape of the cave, a person on the outside can hear even the whispers of those kept within. Dionysus supposedly used to stand outside the ear an listen to learn of plots against him. There are also ruins of a Greek theater and a Roman theater. They still put on plays here in the summers.