Today’s post is 1975 words, 70 photos, a 9 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the fourth in a series of posts from Taormina, Sicily. If you missed the other three click here, here, and here. This week I’ll take you to two ancient cities near Taormina, Siracusa (Syracuse) and Catania.

We were up early for breakfast where we were treated to another clear view of Mount Etna and coastline looking south towards Catania and Syracuse. The day promised to be sunny and pleasant with temps in the upper 60s. 

From the deck of the hotel, I could see the fountain in the Duomo Piazza on Corso Umberto. With the use of the telephoto on my Sony RX100M7, I snapped this photo.

The Trail to Syracuse

After breakfast, our Road Scholar group boarded the bus and headed for Syracuse, a distance of about 70 miles. We had a different driver today, our regular driver, Victorio, was on another assignment. The traffic to Syracuse was heavy so the driver took a detour that went through “the projects,” low income housing. By American standards, it looked well kept and livable.

Syracuse

This historic city was founded by Greek settlers in 734 BC, making it over 2700 years old. Age, history, and archeology help to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Syracuse (or as the Italians say “Siracusa” and the Sicilians pronounce it “Saragusa”) is the birthplace of the mathematician and engineer Archimedes. He used science to discover important concepts such as measuring surface area, volume of sphere, an approximation of pi, the law of the lever, and the law of buoyancy now known as Archimedes Principle. He was one smart dude and the city is proud of him.

Neopolis Archeological Park

Our first stop upon reaching Syracuse was the Neapolis Archeological Park. We joined large groups of school kids with notebooks in hand, there to learn about the history of their country. Nice to see.

As we walked through the park, there were orange trees with fruit that looked nearly ripe.

We walked the path to the ancient quarry where the rocks were mined to build the large Greek amphitheater and other buildings in the area. Slaves did all the hardest work. Can you imagine chopping out a huge, heavy block of limestone and then move it to its location? The quarry was huge where stone was mined for centuries. We saw the Grotto dei Cordari or Ropemaker’s Grotto and the infamous Ear of Dionysius quarry. Legend has it that the acoustics were so good that even the most discrete sound resonates throughout the cave. Dionysius used this cave as a prison and could hear what the prisoners were saying about him. One of our group sang a bit of an aria while in the cave. 

The Greek Theater is huge. In its heyday, it could hold 12-14,000 spectators. Think of all the stone that went into building such a massive structure. On the day of our visit, workmen were building stage for a coming performance that would be held in the Greek Theatre.

I noticed this interesting statute near the Altar of Hieron. I looked far and wide for more information but found none. I find that odd as it’s has some interesting features I’d like to know more about. 

The Altar of Hieron was build in the third century BC by the Greeks as a sacrificial altar. Dedicated to the god Zeus, bulls were sacrificed on the altar. It is the largest known altar from ancient times.

Isle of Ortigia

After a couple of hours at the archeological park, we headed into historical center Syracuse, the Isle of Ortigia. This small island is filled with historic sites, restaurants, and shops.

After a nice lunch at a local restaurant, we visited the Cathedral of Syracuse. This church was built in the 7th century on the site of Greek Temple of Athena. At one time it was a mosque then converted back to a church a couple of hundred years later. The altar holds several relics of St. Lucy, the patron saint of Syracuse. This saint was born in Syracuse and later crucified after being outed as a Christian by a suitor.

St. Paul keeps an eye on the piazza in front of the church.

The beautiful altar, I believe contains a painting of the burial of St. Lucy. This is a copy of the original by Caravaggio. 

It was later afternoon when we arrived back in Taormina. After a rest, the group went to a nearby pizza restaurant. The waitstaff kept bringing pizzas until we couldn’t eat anymore. Except they brought out the ice cream which we faithfully devoured. Stuffed, we plodded up the steps to our hotel. Tomorrow would be another busy day.

The Trail to Catania

It was another early rise to have breakfast and coffee before our departure to Catania, 35 miles down the road. For breakfast, the chef baked a cake in honor of International Women’s Day. It was delicious!

Rosa, our group leader, provided the commentary on our drive to Catania. We took the scenic route past the Isola Bella, also known as the Pearl of the Ionian Sea. It’s a small island just offshore from Taormina. The island was purchased by Florence Trevelyan, a young English woman supposedly a favorite of the Prince of Wales who was married and quite a womanizer. (After his mother died, he became King Edward VII.) The Prince’s mother Queen Victoria invited Florence to leave England to thwart the affair, giving her a large sum of money. Florence built a house on the island, one of the most photographed sites in Taormina. (My photo was taken from the bus and is not worthy of public viewing!) Florence created beautiful gardens that are now in the hands of the Sicilian government and managed by the Italian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The story doesn’t end there. Florence married a well-known doctor in Taormina who also served as mayor for several years. She acquired several parcels of land in town and created another garden that she called Hallington Siculo (after her childhood home in England). It is now part of a large municipal park. Florence was also a dog lover and was seen publicly promenading with one or more of her dogs. She influenced many residents to acquire dogs and walk them in the village, a practice still in existence today.

Catania

I wrote about Catania in an earlier post but here’s a quick recap. It’s the second largest city in Sicily after Palermo with a population in the metro area of over 1 million people. Catania is an important transportation hub on the east side of the island with the largest airport and busy train and bus depots. It sits at the base of Mount Etna both a blessing and a curse. Parts of the city have been destroyed by volcanic eruptions but the ash from those eruptions creates excellent growing conditions for grapes and other agricultural crops. It was also founded in the 8th century BC by the Greeks. When compared to Taormina, Catania is considered scruffier but with that comes a lot of energy. It was palpable the day of our visit.

Teatro Massimo Bellini

The bus dropped us off near the famous Bellini Theatre named after the famous local composer Vincenzo Bellini. This theatre opened in 1890 featuring one of Bellini’s operas.

When we entered the theatre, we were greeted by one of the docents, Maria, who gave us a brief history of the theatre. We then entered through the formal entrance and sat in the red velvet seats to admire the beautiful architectural  details like the rotunda, the red gilded boxes, and the masks hanging from the ceiling.

Stepping outside of the Bellini into the bright sunshine, I saw these older guys perched on a bench. It reminds me of a photo I took in Cinque Terre in 2007 of five guys on a bench. This time there were four but with the same view of the world, watching the people flow by.

The Catania Market

A short walk from the Bellini Theatre took us to the Catania Market, also known as the Catania Fish Market. The closer we got, the stronger the smell of fish. There were all kinds of fish available, all fresh and ready to cook. I was impressed by the array of types of seafood offered by the vendors. If I had any Italian or Sicilian language skills, it would have been fun to hear their stories.

The market also featured fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meats, fresh pasta, and other products.

One of the vegetable vendors was steaming artichokes. We had a taste test, it was quite good.

We also sampled the pistachio candies. It was so good, my Traveling Partner and I returned to make a purchase. 

We were on our own for lunch. My Traveling Partner and I walked around the market to look at all the beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables. Then we headed back to the cheese monger where we had sampled a few cheeses with the group. They had a small seating area behind their booth where they served made to order sandwiches and small charcuterie boards. The food was good and it was a nice place to get out of the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

These colorful umbrellas add a nice touch to the market. 

The Cathedral of Saint Agatha

Upon entering the Cathedral, Rosa told us the story of St. Agatha, the patron saint of Catania. Agatha was born in Catania to a wealthy and noble family. She was a devout Christian and professed a vow of virginity at the age of 15. She rejected advances of a Roman man. He reported her to authorities who brought charges of being a Christian. She was threatened with torture and possibly death. She was steadfast in her beliefs and was imprisoned which failed to change her mind. She was then tortured by being stretched on a rack, burned, whipped, and had her breasts cut off. She was to be burned at a stake but was saved by an earthquake. She was sent to prison where she was apparently healed by the appearance by St. Paul, the Apostle. She later died in prison at age 20 and was venerated as a saint prior to the 11th century.

Saint Agatha is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic Church. She is also the patron saint of breast cancer patients, rape victims, and wet nurses. She is said to intercede for victims of fires and volcanic eruptions. An annual festival to commemorate Saint Agatha is held in early February. As part of the festival, a dessert called “boobie cakes” is served. They look like this.

The Cathedral is quite ornate both outside and inside. The current church was built in 1711 after previous churches were destroyed by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions of Mount Etna. The crowds were quite large the day of our visit so our stay in the church was brief.

Santa Rita in San’Agostino

We walked across the street from the Cathedral to the Augustine Chapel where the cloistered nuns work and worship. The chapel doesn’t look like much from the outside but inside the altar and dome were quite nice. We couldn’t stay long since it was time for prayers. 

A Final Look

The elephant is the official symbol of the city of Catania. It said that the elephant protected the early inhabitants of Catania from fierce and dangerous animals. It’s is also said to protect Catania from the eruptions of Mount Etna. Hey if it works, it’s a good thing.

We had a pleasant visit to Catania, I especially liked the market and the story of Saint Agatha. We were soon back in Taormina where we had a lecture and the farewell dinner one day early. I’ll tell you about that next week.

Until then, happy travels.

To

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM