It turns out that Sicily, like much of the Mediterranean area is filled with many ancient sites to visit. I mean, really old sites unlike anything we can find back home.
And these these sites, often from the 6th and 7th century BC are all over the place! They were great places to live, so civilization after civilization built over and over upon the same site. Often it's very difficult to understand what we're looking at so we have to go back home and do research on what we just saw. Documentation, btw, is hard to come by.
The neat thing is that there are so many places and since it's quiet here at this time of year, we have the sites to ourselves. Still, it's difficult to make sense of it all. Documentation is sparse and it there are translations, they're not always effective.
Here's some of what we've seen:
This is a nearby site for us. Small and quiet, it was a nice 30 minute diversion. As the name says, it's an old Roman Villa, built upon by a 17th century farmhouse! In the 70's it was discovered that an amazing mosaic tile floor from the 3rd century was well preserved below the farmhouse. It is one of the finest examples of ancient Roman mosaic anywhere. Very nice.
Syracuse (Siracusa)
The city of Syracuse deserves it's own post because there is so much to see here. It's not a big city, but the ancients were here. And they built! There is an archeological park, Neapolis, where a number of great sites are.
Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, was born here and is buried here (turns out the Greeks weren't just from Greece!). There is a large (the largest?)
Greek theater (Teatro Greco) here. It was built in 470 BC for a capacity of 15,000. And there is also a neat
Roman Amphitheater built in the 3rd century AD. This was a busy place for thousands of years.
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| Teatro Greco |
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| Roman Amphitheater |
Cava D'Ispica
On the road from Ispica to Monica there is a
deep cut into the earth exposing the limestone rock lining the cliffs. These canyons are frequent occurrences here; we have a deep fissure right behind our house. The result is caves built into the cliff sides. Many caves occur naturally, but people have dug in and created homes in them for thousands of years. This site extends for many miles and housed communities into the 20th century! It's amazing that people could live in these cliffs. Take a look!
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| The caves are multi stories! This site was a church |
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The caves were occupied from the Neolithic
through the 1950's! |
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| Greek writing on the walls assigned seats in the Gymnasium |
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A small section of the Necropolis where thousands of burials
took place. |
Ortigia
Connected by bridge to Siracusa is the ancient part of the city, on the island of
Ortigia. It's a fantastic place and we find ourselves visiting a couple of time each week because it's close and there is so much to explore. It needs it's own post, but it has a couple of ancient sites worth noting.
Of course, the city was founded by the Greeks and you'll find the remains of the Temple of Apollo right in the center of town. Not everyone has an ancient Greek Temple in their town. Pretty cool.
Walk to the Piazza Duomo for a breathtaking view of a space surrounded by great old structures and churches built upon Greek temples. There is so much here to explore! One church contains a famous Caravaggio painting "burial of Santa Lucia". St Lucy lived in Siracusa and was apparently martyred on the spot where the church now sits.
Across the piazza is the Duomo, where St Lucy's bones are held. The architecture is fascinating as the Greek temple is incorporated into the church.
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| Inside the Duomo with Greek columns exposed |
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| Ruins next to and beneath the Doumo |
Oh... and there is the Fonte Aretusa, which is featured in Greek mythology and where papyrus has been grown for centuries. One of the few places papyrus exists outside of Egypt.
Our Drives
Sometimes we drive to explore nearby towns and discover some gems. A few miles from us is the small town of
Palazzolo Acreidi. Surprise, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here we discovered Europe's longest medieval balcony and, ho-hum, yet another ancient Greek theater (there's one in Taormina and Naxos too. And that's just the nearby ones!). Sicily is packed with history at every turn. But there's more! Next up: We visit Mt Etna.
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| Europe's longest medieval balcony (they say...) |
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| Balcony close up |
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| The more intimate Palazzolo theater |
