Day 7: Syracuse
Morning Walking TourOur local guide met us at our hotel to start our walking tour. As we headed towards the Temple of Apollo she talked about the churches and architecture of the buildings along which we were walking. After finishing up at the Temple of Apollo we had a short break to go through the adjacent market, before meeting up again to head to the main square of Ortygia, Piazza Duomo. We went through Syracusa Cathedral, which started life as a temple dedicated to Athena, and finished in the nearby Jewish Quarter.
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Paolo Orsi Archaelogical Museum
We took a taxi from near the Temple of Apollo across the water to the Archaeological Museum after our time with the group ended. We recommend taking the taxi vs walking, as walking would take you at least half an hour and it was hot. There is a lot of cool stuff in this museum, but we stayed focused as we had another stop after the museum and couldn't spend as much time as we would really have liked.
Neapolis Archaeological ParkThis park contains the remains of the city-state of Syracuse, which in the 5th century BC rivaled Athens in size. It gives you a sense of ancient Syracuse's size and power with a theatre, water system, sacrificial altar, Roman amphitheatre, and quarry where slaves were kept prisoner and cut stone that made all of it. These slaves were often prisoners of war, and we know that about 7,000 Athenians were consigned to this quarry after their defeat in the Second Peloponnesian War.
Deb and I overlooking the Roman amphitheatre. |
Medea
We like evening entertainment on our trips. Things like concerts, plays, evening river cruises or night walks. On this trip we got an amazing, once in a lifetime experience when I noticed in Rick's book that they still do plays in the Greek Theatre here in Syracuse, and went online to book tickets. Bring your patience - it wasn't easy getting them. I had to try a half dozen separate times once the tickets went on sale because I wasn't getting their text for security purposes for some reason, but all it took was the one time and we had our tickets. On the aisle in the 9th row - fabulous seats! I had to wonder if we were the only tourists there. Unbeknownst to us it was the last performance of Medea for the season, so we got to witness awards and such being given out to the cast. It was so refreshing to be in an audience that was so receptive of such amazing culture. It was probably our favorite thing of the trip!