A SPECTACULAR GREEK THEATRE IN THE HEART OF SICILY
Of all the places I've been to in Italy I would have to say that Sicily is probably my favourite destination. One of the things that makes it so interesting is the visible remains of former civilisations that have occupied the island of which there are many - the Greeks, the Romans, the Moors and the Normans to name just some of them.
Sometime in the 700's BC Sicily, along with southern Italy, experienced a major incursion of Greeks seeking to escape an overcrowded homeland to make settlements in a new place. The influx of people was so important the area became known as Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). The city of Siracuse on the southeast coast of Sicily became the de facto capital of the new Greek colony. The city prospered and thrived as a Greek settlement underpinned by trade in agricultural products and not surprisingly, new buildings in the Greek tradition developed to meet the cultural needs of the population.
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| MY FIRST VISIT TO THE GREEK THEATRE IN SIRACUSA IN 2020 |
The Greek theatre was constructed on the side of the Temenite hill - a place which now overlooks the modern city. I was lucky enough to visit it just three years ago whilst on my holiday in Catania.
First built in the 5th century BC it is truly amazing. What remains today is a theatre which was renovated in the third century BC with extensions which evidently took in to account the shape of the hill and improved the accoustics. Greek theatres often made much of the location they are built in and this is certainly true here. Visitors to the theatre would have been able to see a panoramic view of the bay, the port and the island of Ortygia. More changes were introduced by the Romans in the early Augustan period, but essentially this is a magnificent Greek structure.
With a diameter of 137 metres and originally 67 rows of seating it was one of the largest theatres in the Greek world and its known that many important Greek plays were performed here including a work by Aeschylus called "The Aitnans" - a play written to celebrate the refoundation of Catania (Aitna) after its earlier destruction.
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| PANORAMIC VIEW TOWARDS THE BAY AND THE ISLAND OF ORTYGIA |
Today it's part of the Syracuse and Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica World Heritage Site established in 2005. In 1788 the travel writer Vivant Denon in his work "Voyage en Sicile", wrote about his visit to the theatre and said: "despite its abandoned state, it remains one of the most beautiful locations in the world, offering the most grandiose and picturesque spectacle that there is". Today that sentiment still stands as far as I'm concerned. It's a must for any traveller to Sicily!!!!
THE GREEK THEATRE AT SYRACUSE SHOULD BE COMBINED WITH A VISIT TO THE ISLAND OF ORTYGIA IF YOU ARE ONLY THERE FOR ONE DAY!
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