Sicily

Our students are an adventuresome lot, and early last week seven of the twelve announced to us that they had booked flights off the island for destinations around Europe this weekend. We decided that if most of them were leaving, we would, too. We booked a trip to Malta's near, and much larger neighbor, Sicily.

Mt. Etna from Catania Airport

We were up at 3:30 a.m. and off to the airport by 4:30 for our short flight from Malta to Catania, Sicily. Snow-capped Mt. Etna was there to greet us. It was nearly two hours until a bus would come to the airport to take us to Siracusa, so we decided to ride a shuttle into Catania to see if we could get a bus from there more quickly.

Greek Temple of Apollo, Siracusa, Italy

We saw very little of Catania (kind of a gritty place without much to see) and wound up on exactly the same bus, which left downtown Catania and reached the airport a the time we were trying to beat! Guess it was better than waiting in the airport, but it was an extra 8 Euro in bus fare we wouldn't have needed to spend.

Fountain of Diana, Siracusa

Our hotel is quite nice for only $55/night, even if the walls are a bit thin! It is really off season here, so rates are cheap, but also many things are closed for the season. The hotel let us check in right away, though it wasn't even 10 a.m. yet. So we dumped our backpacks and headed out to see the sights. Most of those are across the bridge, just 3 blocks from our hotel, that goes over to the island of Ortigia.

One of the narrow streets of Ortigia

There are some ruins here that go back before the Romans to the Greeks, who had a colony here. Among the most prominent is the Temple of Apollo, which occupies a large square just over the bridge.

Belvedere San Giacomo, harbor view from Ortigia

From there we walked on to Piazza Archimede with its Fountain of Diana. The goddess is there with her bow and arrows, rounding up wild game -- and men.

The Duomo Plaza was pretty deserted

We detoured down a number of narrow, winding streets, eventually coming out at Belvedere San Giacomo, which is a nice overlook out into the Mediterranean. The sea is nearly as clear here as in Malta.

Duomo interior showing pillars of the Greek temple

After still more winding streets we reached the local cathedral square, or Piazza Duomo. The large piazza was practically empty. 

Baptismal font in the Duomo dates back to the Greek period

On our end, we found the Church of Santa Lucia. We were glad to find it open, as so many other churches we passed were locked up tight. St. Lucy's is a fairly plain church, and not too large. It's claim to fame is that the painting above the altar was done by the famous baroque artist, Amerighi da Caravaggio. Caravaggio came to Siracusa on the run from Malta, one step ahead of the law. He needed some quick cash and did the painting in a hurry. It shows. Not one of his best, in our opinion. No photos allowed, but you can see it here.

Greek columns on the Duomo exterior

Across the square the Duomo was also open, and they were glad to take our entrance fee. The Duomo is literally built from a Greek temple -- not just on the same site, or on top of the old foundations, but using the pillars, floors, etc. and simply expanding on it all. It's quite unique.

Castello Maniance

Side chapels were added later -- some of them quite ornate. St. Lucy is big here, too. The baptismal font is an urn recovered from the classical Greek period, and some of the artwork bears the stamp of the Byzantine style.

Castello main gate

Just a couple blocks from the square is the artesian spring that probably first attracted settlers to this

The Castello has been modified many times, including adding canon placements.

We walked on to the very southern tip of the island to Castello Maniace. The castle, or fortress, here was built to keep the harbor secure, and it was expanded every time military technology changed, from the 15th through the 19th centuries. So it's quite a hoge-poge of styles. Views from the ramparts are spectacular, though.

The line was too long to eat here!

We visited the Saturday market, and had a nice light lunch at a sidewalk cafe (the one recommended by the guidebook had a queue a half hour long, so we went around the corner and had a perfectly nice lunch anyway). After a bit more walking returned to the hotel to rest our legs before heading out to dinner.