Thursday, December 15, 2022

Taormina

In Taormina there are the ruins of a Greek-Roman Theater.  





....and some really nice ceramics and painted doors.























Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Taormina

 Taormina is a great little hill town with lots of interesting things to see.  The most important of these is Mt Etna which is gently erupting right now.  This is what I can see with my camera from one of the piazzas.


And this is the picture Larry can get with his fancy-smancy camera.


We enjoyed a wine tasting and lunch at a local winery today, Benanti winery, in the Mt Etna wine appellation.  



We really liked the wine.  If you are curious to know more about these wines, check out these links.


Taormina has some great street decorations.






Other stuff from around town.






That is the town of Castelmola perched on that hill.  We took a taxi there to have a look around.


This is Mount Etna in the upper left.













Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Ortigia

 The island of Ortigia is the heart of old Siracusa.  The Temple of Apollo is the first Doric stone temple in Sicily, from about 580 BC.



This fountain in Piazza Archimede is dedicated to Artemis the huntress. 


The Piazza Duomo .....


.... is home to the interesting Siracusa Cathedral.  The facade, from around 1750, was inspired by the Baroque churches of Rome, ...



... but the structure was originally an ancient Greek temple with 6 columns at the front and back, and 14 columns on the sides.


This diagram illustrates this with the Temple of Athena shown in red.



Right next to the bay (which is on the other side of the walkway) is the fresh water spring that made the island a desirable place for settlement when the Greeks arrived in the eighth century BCE.  The plants are papyrus.



Ortigia also has an impressive street market.

Fish ....


Vegetables ....


Fruits ....


Nuts ....


And spices ....



The famous scientist and mathematician Archimedes was born in Syracusa.

There are some great holiday street decorations ...



And some interesting alleyways and passageways.