Syracus

Today we went to Syracuse, started by the Greeks in the 7^th century BC.  Once a huge, thriving Greek city it was conquered and inhabited by the Romans in the 2cnd century AD, at which time it started to decline.  During the middle ages the city hit its nadir with barely 3,000 inhabitants.  Since then it has rebounded to its present population of about 30,000. It has had a history similar to the rest of Sicily in that it has been inhabited by Carthaginians, early Christians, Arabs, etc.  It is now about 1/35^th the size of the metropolis it once was. 

We saw the amphitheater of the Romans and the theater of the Greeks (for men only, as theater could have had a negative effect on women!), plus a quarry that was worked by slaves who labored under deplorable conditions.   We also took a walk around the old town area and saw a church that Romans made by enclosing a Greek temple (columns and all), and took a look at one of the bones (the rest of her body is in Venice having been stolen by the Italians) of the city’s patron saint (St. Lucia – a 2cnd century Roman girl).

We had another “light lunch” of multiple antipasti and pasta dishes.  We need to leave Sicily while I can still wear my clothes!

Tonight we’re hosting some of the other tour members in our hotel room (we must have won the hotel room lottery and got the best views and the biggest balcony).   Then we’ll be going out to dinner with the group.  Tomorrow we will walk around the medieval part of the town a bit and then we are off to Malta!  

Sandy starts the day looking over the Mediterranean.

It is a beautiful view.

We cross over a bridge to the medieval part of Syracuse. (Syracuse is an island.)

In the year 281 St. Lucy was born in Syracuse.  Her father was a wealthy merchant in the town.  She became a Christian and was beheaded by the Romans (in 304).  In the 330's when Constantine decreed Christianity the official Roman religion she was made a saint and this church was built in her honor.  The church covers a Greek temple dedicated to Apollo, using the original Greek columns to support the roof!  You can see the columns in the walls.

The altar area in the church contains one of her bones in a glass encased shrine.  Her body was stolen by the Italians during a time before Sicily was part of Italy.  The rest of her body lies in Venice.

Here you can clearly see the earlier Greek columns embedded in the walls.

The main part of Greek Syracuse lies outside of the island.  This is the sacrificial platform of the main temple area.  It is carved out of one block of rock and is the largest platform ever found!

Here is the Greek theater.  It seated 16,000 and is also carved out of the rock.  (There are also Roman arenas, etc. in the area)