Siracusa (more specifically Ortygia its old town) is 2700 years old. It is mentioned in the Bible (St. Paul stopped here) and by the Roman writer Cicero. To put 2700 years into some kind of context, Siracusa had been in existence for over 2000 years when Columbus discovered America, over 1500 years before the Crusades and almost 1000 years before the first recorded use of the term, “Pope”. So, relatively speaking, Siracusa is definitely “old”.
There are three places to park a boat in Siracusa. The first and most attractive is the large bay to its south; the second is a “marina” on the town quay that borders the bay; and finally the small harbor to the north that sits on the boundary between the old and new towns. The forecast winds are from the south for a day or so and the first two options are susceptible to weather from this direction, so we opt for the third. The pilot book says that this harbor smells pretty bad in the summer. But, while doing my research for where to stay, I come across some protests in Italian that this information is out of date and that the situation is much better.
We stay here for three days and can confirm that, even in nearly 100 degree heat, there is no evidence of a bad smell. And on the positive side, it is so sheltered that you almost cannot tell that there is any weather at all.
As you might imagine, there are quite a few things to see here. Walking across the bridge into the old town, Siracusa makes its first statement with the Temple of Apollo. This 6th century BC Greek temple, was transformed into a Byzantine church, then into an Islamic mosque and back again to a church.
This theme of revision or adaptation of buildings and sites to “new” uses or purposes is typical of this part of the world where cultures, religions and architectural styles have rubbed against each other for hundreds of years. It is continued with the Duomo (or cathedral). This was built in the 7th century on top of the much older Greek Temple of Athena.
The 7th century church was revised by the Normans (especially the ceiling).
And the facade was rebuilt in the 18th century.
The town itself is a warren of little streets and alleyways trying to maintain an equilibrium between cars (for which they were not intended) and pedestrians (for which they were).
And occasionally you burst from the narrow lanes into one of the piazzas and you feel that you can suddenly breathe more easily and slow the pace even further down to sit and enjoy coffee, ice cream or a cool drink under the umbrellas.
Some way away from Ortygia old town is Neapolis (or “new town”) which was one of the original quarters of the town of Siracusa in Greek and Roman times. As a result, we find Greek and Roman ruins side-by-side sprawling across a vast area.
The Greek theater (which is still used for performances today) is adjacent to a Roman amphitheater and the site of the stone quarries that were used to create the buildings themselves.
Former stone quarries are not usually high on my must-see list when visiting a country, but here is a worthy exception. The quarrying work left a sunken space which is now shaded by orange and lemon trees and is amazingly fragrant and peaceful for an area that is in the middle of a bustling modern town.
In this space is a cavern called the Ear of Dionysius, which is remarkable for its acoustics. Apparently a whisper at one end of the cavern can be clearly heard at the other. But today, as we approach, it is a male choir singing early church music - surreal and sublime.
As an aside here, this cavern is called the "Ear of Dyonisius". He was an early ruler in Sicily and his official title was "tyrant" and this is where the English usage of the term in its modern sense originates.
Talking about music brings me to the third part of this entry - the riot. There are not many paragraphs that combine the topics of opera and riots so these will add substantially to that body of work. There is to be a performance of the opera Carmen in Siracusa tonight. It should have been in the Greek theater but they are doing some work on it and we have to “make do” with the 11th century castle that just out into the bay as the "back-up" venue.
First of all it’s hard to get tickets. It’s not that the tickets are hard to get, it’s that it’s hard to find someone that sells them. It’s too late for online; we look at the few points of sale and can’t find any of them; we try a travel agent and he says that the opera is not on in Siracusa at all. But we will not be thwarted - seeing a French opera performed live in the open air in Sicily is not something you give up on easily. (OK I know it should be an Italian opera sung in Italian but you can’t have everything.)
I have a plan. I suggest that we go for lunch near the venue and don’t tell Lori of the subplot which will either reveal a box-office or a source of information on where we can actually buy tickets. Apart from the fact that the restaurant is closed, this plan works well. We not only discover a box office, we also discover members of the chorus selling their personal complimentary tickets to the public at discounted prices. We buy two. It crosses our mind that this could be a scam but, we argue, if you’re reduced to scamming tickets for an opera in Siracusa in Sicily, you can’t be a very successful or self-respecting scammer at all. Anyway, they’re wearing t-shirts that say they’re part of the opera staff - so it must be OK!?!
The doors to the venue are supposed to open at 7:30 and the opera is to start at 8:30. It is outside so the doors are just wooden gates that let you in to the castle grounds. Well, they would let you in if they were unlocked that is.
The crowd continues to gather.
It is 8:20 and the gates are still not open. The local carabinieri (police) are just hanging about chatting and trying to look official. Local customs are sometimes disconcerting. In Italy, when people greet friends they kiss each other first on the right cheek and then on the left. This applies to both women and men. So it applies to carabinieri too. In how many countries in the world do armed police officers kiss each other when they meet? It’s always good to have your cultural foundations tested.
But back to the opera and the riot. People are not happy. In another part of the world, they might say "the crowd is turning ugly." But this is Italy and that just isn't possible - here they just pout, out loud.
Someone has the idea of pounding on the entrance gates with his hands; he is joined by others; it becomes rhythmical; clapping from the back of the crowd joins in to the same beat. The gates start to show signs of strain.
Watch the video.
Prudently someone opens them and the audience good-naturedly streams through.
All the while the carabieris have done …. nothing. They don’t even look concerned. “Normale!”
The opera is pretty good but we don’t see all of it because of the late start and our desire to be off early the next day.