Day 30 01-10-2013 Tue Siracusa

Today we stayed in Siracusa to visit the Greco-Roman archaeological sites and museum. The Parco Archaeologico was probably within walking distance but we chose to drive there because it was another 30℃ day

View of Porto Piccolo from roof our hotel

Parco Archaeologico

Greek Theatre – 5^th to 3^rd century BC

This theatre was carved out of a hillside adjacent to an area of ancient limestone quarrying. It is still in pretty good condition considering the significant effect erosion has on the local limestone.

Caves

Above the theatre were a series of caves presumably of similar vintage. The central one had a stream gushing out of the rock. I suspect however that this is also a man-made artefact. Quite unusual to see it at the top of such a site.

Ear of Dionysius

In the quarry area is a very high (20-25m) curled cave that has remarkable acoustic properties. The cave itself was a quarry in which the roof collapsed, giving the present form. When we arrived, a group of French seniors located near the “earhole” performed an impromptu selection of songs to demonstrate the acoustics. Echoes were best generated near the entrance. My contribution is entitled “Lothar gives Joan the Clap”. I would add the audios here but Blogger does not seem to cater for that.

Roman Amphitheatre – 3^rd century AD

Nearby was the less well-maintained small Roman amphitheatre. The way the morning light fell on the grass had a magic effect.

Museo Archaeologico

We had intended to wind up the morning at the archaeological museum nearby, but were foiled by the authorities having decided to close it until further notice for “technical reasons”. Perhaps they considered the tourist season closed as today is the first of October. Makes you scratch your head.

However, all was not lost, as just across the road was the modern church whose spire you can see from almost everywhere in town.

Santuario Madonna delle Lacrime

A service was in progress so only one interior photo.

From the web:

Or translated “The Shrine of Our Lady of Tears”, was built to commemorate the miraculous tearing of a plaster effigy of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1959.

This now famous miracle that occurred at the bedside of a couple named Iannuso, was later repeated in front of a throng of hundreds. Later analysis of the “tear like” fluid which the effigy emitted revealed the substance to be actual tears.

 These borrowed from the web

We bought our lunch of hand-picked ingredient from a deli and devoured them in the coolness of our room back at Sbarcadero on Porto Piccolo. We decided to have a well-deserved totally lazy afternoon – the first one of the whole trip.

In the Evening

Leaving the hotel at 18:15 we explored a side of Ortigia we had not previously visited, then made our way to the Duomo square to have a drink, watching the people go by. Later we settled in on another side of the square for our last meal here. It was great fun watching the people parade, with lots of little ones about with or without parents. The only annoyances were the usual ones, rose sellers and musicians  The latter are quite persistent about getting paid for their unwanted services. I told one to go away and that seemed to work. Violins maybe, but accordions - no.