We had cleared out of Italy, both personally and boat-wise, but the weather wasn’t cooperating yet for us to make the 300 mile passage to Albania. So we decided to explore some more of Siracusa. First we headed out to the catacombs of San Giovanni. The enormous labyrinth of tunnels was carved into the limestone rock originally as Greek cisterns, but later used as Roman catacombs, and even as air raid shelters during WWII. Sadly, all the bones have been looted over the years (who steals bones?), and all that is left are the cutouts in the walls and bits of decoration here and there.
After the catacomb tour, we headed over to the church of Santa Lucia, where you could view the original Caravaggio painting of Saint Lucy’s death and martyrdom hanging behind the altar (much too dark – rumor has it he was in a hurry, needed money, and that was that). To get to that church though, we had to walk past the ugliest sight of Siracusa, the Basilica of the Madonna delle Lacrime – it looks like an upside down ice cream cone and ruins the skyline.
We also made it out to the other edge of town and finally visited the Maniace Castle. Constructed 1232-1240 to protect the city from invaders. Over the centuries it was a fortress, a prison, a castle, you name it. It’s got a great view of both the inner harbor as well as the Ionian Sea.
Since we were in town for several days and not rushing to catch our next weather window, we finally met some fellow cruisers. Bill and Laurie from s/v Toodle-oo, and Stefan and Anne from s/v Mokendeist. We all got together on one of the local little beaches for an evening of BBQ and bocce ball.
And with that, it was finally time to say goodbye to Italy, and move on for the season.
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