Jan 2nd: Siracusa

In the UK this city is known by its ancient name of Syracuse. The oldest part is a small island just offshore, founded in 733 BC by the Greeks. Being an island it was easy to defend. It had two excellent harbours and fertile land on the mainland. With these advantages the settlement grew and prospered, and within 100 years was a thriving major city.

This is one of the harbours today, with no raiding parties in sight: the pirates are already on shore laying siege to the tourists.

A few more centuries on and Siracusa had become one of the principal Mediterranean powers. In keeping with this wealth and influence some splendid buildings were constructed, e.g. the Temple of Athena in 485 BC. Little normally survives of anything that old due to decay, earthquakes (in this part of the World), and pillaging of the building materials.

However, here is an exception: the temple of Athena was incorporated into an early Christian church, so protecting it. It is visible today as part of that structure that has itself been further modified many times. The arches are Norman, through which the temple columns are visible. It is now the Duomo (cathedral) of Siracusa, and the effect is unique.

To give an idea of how huge these temple columns are, the next photo shows a person walking at the far end of the aisle.

The cathedral is dedicated to a local saint, Santa Lucia, who is the patron saint of eyes, as her eyes were put out as part of her martyrdom.

Outside the cathedral, the square is enclosed by elegant classical style buildings, but it looks kind of bare and empty, as if it could do with a street market or a demo to bring it to life.

The island is now connected by several bridges to the modern city of Siracusa and isn’t just a museum and monuments area: there are shops, hotels and dwellings. I do like these typical Italian houses with typical lines of washing. I bet even Berlusconi hangs his smalls out to dry on the balcony of his luxury penthouse.

Now back on the tourist trail, to the Fountain of Arethusa, they say the most romantic spot on the island. It is a fresh water spring built by the Greeks and named after the nymph Arethusa who, according to legend, was transformed into this spring by the goddess Artemis. What a waste of a good nymph! Obviously she had a far-reaching reputation for purity as Nelson took on his fresh water from here before the Battle of the Nile.

After a mediocre tourist snack at the café opposite the fountain (now what else would we be expecting) we left by the 15^th century Porta Marina, the ancient entrance gate from the town to the port. 15^th century actually doesn’t seem that old after going back to the island’s Greek roots.

There must be few places with a continuously recorded history going back 2,700 years, so our visit was an interesting experience. Will the planet’s inhabitants be similarly entranced, in 2,700 years’ time, when the scooters in the foreground have been dredged up from the silt in the harbour and are on public display?