We left Piazza Armerina on the 7:45 bus and had some so-so views of Mt. Etna to our left as we approached Catania where, with 6 minutes to spare, we caught the 9:30 bus south to Siracusa. And by 11:00 we were settling in to our room in Hotel Posta on the northern end of Ortigia, an island connected to the rest of Siracusa by twin bridges, that is "the historical center of Siracusa". Hotel Posta's location will serve us well as we have planned two day trips by bus (Pantalica and Noto) and Hotel Posta is 15 minutes walking from the bus station. Also it's just 25 minutes walking to the archaeological park and museum. And goes without saying that it is in Ortigia.
Surrounded by water, Ortigia has atmosphere and sights, souvenir vendors, eateries, and a lively local market. Three of those sights are ancient Greek Temples. And if you've following this blog, you know we have thing for ancient Greek Temples. Here we hit the jackpot. The Catholic Cathedral of Sircusa, located on Oritigia was built using the columns and cella of the the Greek Temple of Athena. They can be seen inside and outside of the temple. Wow!
Mount Etna through the bus window (at right behind the light poles).
Spinach pastry.
Some shots of the Ortigia waterfront.
Inside the Cathedral + Temple of Athena. The Greek Temple columns are incorporated into the side walls of the Cathedral.
Looking back to the front doors, with temple columns on each side. One can see the arches of the nave which were cut into the inner walls of the Temple of Athena.
The columns, about 6 feet in diameter, have stood for over 2000 years.
And on the northern outside wall.
Archimedes, the Greek mathematician was from Siracusa. This fountain bears his name.
And his statue stands on one of the bridges which connects Ortigia with the mainland.
Off the beaten track on Oritigia.
The local outdoor market.
Ortigia shops are getting ready for Easter.
Take out pizza topped with local arugula.
Sun-Ling and John have been traveling the earth since 2008 while blogging, eating vegetarian and vegan, and riding public transportation. We love uphill day hikes, 20th-century architecture, Roman ruins, all bodies of water, local markets, shopping for groceries, aqueducts, miradors, trip planning, blablacar, and more.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Most Recent Post
Uzbekistan: Khiva
Khiva is really the first stop on our upstream tour of the Silk Road. An important post on the Silk Road, Khiva was razed and rebuilt many t...
Most Popular Posts of Last 30 Days
-
Last week we hauled our canoe and tent over to Merchants Millpond State Park and enjoyed some very fine camping and paddling. One day we p...
-
Dubai, the most populated city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is an enigma for us. Dubai is now among the top 5 most visited cities in t...
-
Tashkent, Uzbekistan is our entry into Central Asia. The Silk Road had been a destination for us for decades. Besides the usual concerns for...
-
Everything happened smoothly with our Galapagos trip. We had really good weather, two full days of sun and a couple of partly cloudy day in...
-
The day before Easter we took the regional FSE train from Martina Franca to Bari, the 2nd largest city in southern Italy (after Naples) with...
-
From TashKent, we took a flight west to Nukus, located in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan. Nukus itself is a city establi...
-
Abus Dhabi seems more familiar than Dubai. There is a recognizable downtown. There are city parks connecting downtown to the sea. There are ...
No comments:
Post a Comment