Syracuse Part I

As you leave the train station in Pozzallo heading east, the Mediterranean stretches to your right, and groves of oranges and olives climb the rocky slopes to your left. There are lots of abandoned, roofless stone buildings made from the white stone that is everywhere here. Now, in November, the sunshine brings out the best in the sights around you.

The trip to Syracuse takes about an hour by train passing through Notto which we hope to visit another day, and Avola. Our little two car train chugged into the station at about 10:15.Thanks to Sheelagh's research, we knew that Syracuse is divided into three parts. There is the island of Ortygia, where most of the sights are, the modern part of the city called Acradina is located just on the mainland side of the little bridge, and the other side of that is Neapolis where there are ruins from Greek and Roman times.

We hustled off to Ortygia because we have learnt that most places shut down at 1 pm. What we didn't know was that most of Syracuse is shut down on Monday. Oh well, we had a great time anyway.

Corinthian settlers founded the island city in 735 BC. There is far too much history to put here, but suffice to say there were despots and murders and battles galore and today we have one of the most beautiful little cities we have ever seen. There is a peaceful feel to the place. I know, it was Monday. But more than that, it was clean and spacious in the Piazzas. The first we reached was the Piazza Archimede named for the most famous local son. Remember the guy who leaped from his bath and ran through town shouting Eurica when he discovered the way to measure the volume of an irregular object. This piazza is dominated by a modern fountain and is great for morning coffee.

The Piazza del Duomo where the ancient acropolis once stood. It is surrounded by baroque buildings. There is a small church where Caravaggio, who murdered someone, used to sneak back and paint. The Cathedral is simple inside and wonderfully white in the morning sun.

Just down from the Duomo is the Fountain Aretusa. The story goes that the sea nymph Aretusa changed herself into a fresh water spring to evade the attentions of Alpheus the river god. This is now full of papyrus growing there. We had a great lunch at a restaurant there overlooking the spring and the sea.


             We'll finish this next time.