We began our day in Siracusa at the famous Archaeological Park. The city of Siracusa was founded by colonists from the Greek city of Corinth in the 8th century BC. Here we visited the infamous quarries where, during the reign of Dionysius the Tyrant, slaves spent the entirety of their lives cutting blocks of limestone to build the ancient city. Our next stop was the cave, called Dionysius’s ear by Caravaggio because its entrance is ear shaped and at the top of the quarry the tyrant was able, via a small aperture, to hear the grumblings of those he imprisoned below.
We then visited the intact Greek theatre with a seating capacity of 6 thousand and finished our visit at the Roman amphitheater, the site of innumerable gladiator contests.
After lunch we walked across St. Lucia bridge to the island of Ortygia. There we saw the marvels of the ancient Jewish quarter and its ancient synagogue, the earliest Doric temple built in Magna Graecia. We completed our visit at the duomo dedicated to the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was constructed in an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Athena.
