Siracusa

Sicily is basically triangular. The ancient city of Siracusa lies very near the southernmost vertex at the intersection of many important trade routes across the Mediterranean Sea. Siracusa, like all of Sicily, has seen many different rulers. If there was a group that came to Sicily then they either took control of Siracusa or at least tried to. Siracusa was founded by the Corinthians and some of the earliest remaining remnants are from that Greek period.

The archeological area includes a large altar platform and the remains of a Greek theater.

Above the theater a small waterfall cascades out of the opening formed by an ancient aqueduct.

I always find it fascinating when I come upon ancient wheel ruts carved out of stone. The ones seen below are easily a foot deep. So deep, in fact, that it might have even caused trouble for carts with lower axles. Imagine how many carts it would take rolling aver the ground to cut that kind of path through the stone.

Siracusa was involved in many conflicts, choosing allies one moment and switching allegiances whenever it benefitted them. Following one major battle against Athens, thousands of Athenian prisoners were held in awful conditions in an old quarry next to the ancient sites. One famous place within the quarry is called the Orecchio di Dionisio or Ear of Dionysius. The acoustics within the chamber are so good that legend has it the captors spied on their prisoners by listening at an opening high up in the vault. To put things in perspective, the opening to the cave shown below is easily 50 feet high.

The Greeks were not the only group to leave their mark on the city. Nearby the Greek theater are the ruins of a small Roman amphitheater. It is nowhere near as well preserved as the Colosseum in Rome, but at least nobody built over the top of it in modern times so you can see the entire outline. I was disappointed to note that you can no longer wander down into the main part of the ruins as you could when Amy and I first visited Sicily in 1996.