Syracuse
Ink black mist shrouded Mt Etna as we glided down the east coast of Sicily in the early hours of the day, but as we reached Syracuse harbor the sun was burning off the marine cloud, promising another cloudless day for our walking tour of the ancient ruins of this once mighty Greek colony.
The bustle of the modern city replete with car horns, fruit merchants, postcard vendors, and early morning shoppers that surrounded the archaeological park was mercifully excluded from the serenity of the oleander flanked pathways that weave there way down to the bottom of the Latomie, the ancient limestone quarry where the Tyrant Dionysius imprisoned more 7,000 Athenian soldiers. As we wandered through the scattered remains of the sun-parched, but now silent stone seats of the ancient Greek theater, it is hard not to think about those who filled these seats some 2,200 years ago. Did Archimedes sit among his fellow countrymen to take in a performance of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, or did he spend his days bent over his notes and drawings designing ever more complex siege equipment to protect his city’s walls? What manner of men lived through the wars and peace that punctuated the turbulent history of this city; made offerings to the gods on the alters before her temples; sold amphorae of herb-infused wine along the quay; or cloaked in leather and bronze armor, stood sentinel on the watch towers that ringed her city walls?
Today, the Endeavor is berthed in the old harbor adjacent to Ortygia, a tiny islet off the southeast corner of Sicily where in 734 BC citizens of the Greek city-state of Corinth founded their colony. At first glance there is little in the skyline or narrow streets of what now appears to be a Catalonian city that belies its ancient past. Long gone are the Greek trireme sheds and the fortifications that enabled the Syracusans to defeat the Carthaginians, Etruscans and even the Athenians. Hidden behind the magnificent Baroque façade of the Duomo, however, we found the completely intact Temple of Athena. Sitting quietly in the pews amongst the flickering offering candles and alone in our thoughts, we are once again transported back in time to the 5th century BC. As we stepped back into the 21st century, we are greeted once again by the sights, sounds, and smells of Sicily: children kicking their soccer ball in the piazza, women taking their afternoon stroll, and the animated conversations of men debating local politics.
Ink black mist shrouded Mt Etna as we glided down the east coast of Sicily in the early hours of the day, but as we reached Syracuse harbor the sun was burning off the marine cloud, promising another cloudless day for our walking tour of the ancient ruins of this once mighty Greek colony.
The bustle of the modern city replete with car horns, fruit merchants, postcard vendors, and early morning shoppers that surrounded the archaeological park was mercifully excluded from the serenity of the oleander flanked pathways that weave there way down to the bottom of the Latomie, the ancient limestone quarry where the Tyrant Dionysius imprisoned more 7,000 Athenian soldiers. As we wandered through the scattered remains of the sun-parched, but now silent stone seats of the ancient Greek theater, it is hard not to think about those who filled these seats some 2,200 years ago. Did Archimedes sit among his fellow countrymen to take in a performance of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, or did he spend his days bent over his notes and drawings designing ever more complex siege equipment to protect his city’s walls? What manner of men lived through the wars and peace that punctuated the turbulent history of this city; made offerings to the gods on the alters before her temples; sold amphorae of herb-infused wine along the quay; or cloaked in leather and bronze armor, stood sentinel on the watch towers that ringed her city walls?
Today, the Endeavor is berthed in the old harbor adjacent to Ortygia, a tiny islet off the southeast corner of Sicily where in 734 BC citizens of the Greek city-state of Corinth founded their colony. At first glance there is little in the skyline or narrow streets of what now appears to be a Catalonian city that belies its ancient past. Long gone are the Greek trireme sheds and the fortifications that enabled the Syracusans to defeat the Carthaginians, Etruscans and even the Athenians. Hidden behind the magnificent Baroque façade of the Duomo, however, we found the completely intact Temple of Athena. Sitting quietly in the pews amongst the flickering offering candles and alone in our thoughts, we are once again transported back in time to the 5th century BC. As we stepped back into the 21st century, we are greeted once again by the sights, sounds, and smells of Sicily: children kicking their soccer ball in the piazza, women taking their afternoon stroll, and the animated conversations of men debating local politics.
