Cruising the Adriatic--Sicily

Syracuse.  I knew that Syracuse University was a good American school and that Syracuse was a Greek name, but I had no idea that Syracuse, located in Sicily, was one of the great Greek cities of the ancient world. It was part of the wave of "Hellenism," or Greek culture, that spread through the ancient world, as far east as Jerusalem and as far west as Spain, before the Romans conquered those outposts.  On November 11, 2013, we visited the ruins of Syracuse after our boat docked in Catania, Sicily. 

We stopped first at the ruins of the Syracuse forum, and then we walked to rock quarries where slaves, captured in ancient wars, cut blocks of rock for the great amphitheaters and forums of the city.  Parts of the quarry are filled with water to form lakes and other parts are pocked with caves and overhangs where rock was hollowed out.  Syracuse was founded in 700 B.C. by Greeks from Sparta, one of the city-states on the Greek mainland.  In 500 B.C. Syracuse, by now an independent state, fought off the invasion of Athens, another city-state from the Greek mainland.  In 200 B.C. Syracuse was captured by the Romans.  Between 700 B.C. and 200 B.C., Syracuse was one of the great powers of the Mediterranean world.

 

 

 

We paused inside a huge cave, hollowed out as a quarry.  Echoes bounced off the walls and a tiny slit at the top let in daylight.

We wandered through the Greek theater where plays were produced.  Aristophanes, one of the great Greek playwrights, came from Syracuse.  Plays are still produced in the amphitheater during the summer.

We could still see Greek letters etched in the stone.

We paused at the caves near the theater, which had been Christian cemeteries in the years after the Romans left.  Everywhere in the Mediterranean, there have been layers on layers of settlement, with the same structures and building materials used by different cultures over the centuries.

We visited the Roman amphitheater nearby.  Our very literate guide was more impressed by the Greeks than the Romans.  "The Greeks used their amphitheater for religion and education," she said.  "The Romans used their amphitheater for gladiators and entertainment."

We next traveled to Orvieta, a city which dated back to the Romans, if not the Greeks, but which had been continuously occupied until today.  It had a charming pier, with fishing boats and colorful buildings.

Orvieta also had an Old City, with a Baroque square and elegant old palaces where rich Italian families still lived, with fancy Italian cars inside the gates.

I was fascinated by a Catholic church which had once been a Roman temple.  The Roman pillars were simply incorporated into the church, which was first Byzantine and then Roman Catholic.  Again, layers of culture simply built up, one over the top of the last one.

Our guide was frank about Mafia influence.  Shop owners pay protection money, but "you can deduct it from your taxes."

 

During the morning we were in Sicily, Mt. Etna, the local volcano, began spouting rock and ash.  As our ship pulled away from Catania, we gathered with other shipmates to watch fire spout from the top of Mt. Etna.  Within a few days there was a full eruption, although  it did not harm anyone nearby. We couldn't get clear pictures of Mt. Etna spouting fire from our moving ship, but we did get some impressionistic designs (note the red on top of the mountain).

Cruising the Adriatic--Valletta, Malta

Valletta, Malta, was a happy surprise.  We had never been there and didn't know what to expect.  Our cruise director encouraged everyone to be outside, on deck, as we cruised into Valletta at 7 a.m. because, "It's beautiful."  It was.  The city was made of golden sandstone and shimmered in the morning light.  The harbor, we were told, was the best natural harbor in Europe.

 

We noted the ship in dry dock.  Valletta's industries are involved in many aspects of shipping.  The Celebrity Silhouette is registered in Valletta.

Valletta has been a crossroads of cultures for thousands of years--first by Greeks, Romans, and Arabs.  It was chosen by the Knights of St. John, in the 1500s, as their capital, after they were evicted from Rhodes by the Turks.  The Knights of St. John were founded by aristocrats from Europe during the Crusades, to act as protectors of the pilgrims traveling to and from Jerusalem.  Later, they became militant and fought off the Turks who tried to invade Europe.  For centuries, Malta was ruled by Knights from eight separate kingdoms, who each had palaces in Valletta.  Their supreme ruler was the "Grand Master."  In the late 1700s, Napoleon conquered Valletta and then, from 1800 to 1964, it was ruled by the English. We began our tour by walking across a bridge, over a moat, into the Old City.

The gate was marked with an intricate crest, one of dozens of flags, crests and banners identifying Maltese conquerors.

We were in Valletta on a Sunday, which was also the island's Memorial Day.  We paused in the city's Memorial Park, filled with heroic statues honoring various distinguished people and events.  "What does Alfred Einstein have to do with Malta?" one of our tour mates asked.  "Nothing," our tour guide said.  "We have a statue of him just because we admire him."

 

 

 

The Memorial Park looked over Valletta's perfect harbor, including its old fort.

 

We wandered through the city, past its beautiful buildings.  We passed cannons brought by the British to defend the island, a statue of one of the Knights of St. John accepting the charter to the city, and a statue of Pope Pius V, one of the many popes who dabbled in Mediterranean politics.

 

 

 

Coming and going, we passed military bands, parading around Valletta in honor of Memorial Day.

 

 

We also passed policemen carefully protecting what we assumed were the city's "bigwigs"--large and self-important--and ushering them into shiny, chauffeur-driven cars.

We paused at the Archeological Museum.  Ancient Maltese fashioned gods and goddesses and temples as early as 3600 B.C. "before Stonehenge or the Pyramids," as our guide pointed out.  The goddesses were headless and very fertile-looking, and the altars looked like something used by the Canaanites.

 

 

We toured the Palace where the president of Malta now governs.  Malta is independent and a member of the EU.  There were suits of armor, intricately painted walls and ceilings, marble seals of Malta embedded in the floors, and paintings of the "Grand Masters" of the Knights of St. John.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alas, the cathedral was closed to all but "worshippers." Our large tour group didn't qualify.  We could only admire its bell towers and the mosaics along its outside walls.  Inside, above its altar, is a famous painting by Caravaggio.  Another time.

Because of Valletta's multicultural past, its language is based on Arabic, but uses the European alphabet, rather than the Arabic one.  These choir boys, stationed outside a church, advertise a message in Maltese that doesn't look like any words from Latin, Slavic, or Greek--"Ghinni nsir oassis."

As a Mediterranean land, Malta has a café culture.  Old men relaxed together around an outdoor table.  A man dressed for Memorial Day with his chest full of medals sat on a bench in the piazza.  We ate our gelato and watched everyone else.  One of the cafes advertised that it was founded in 1837, soon after the British arrived.

Maltese crosses and Maltese dogs originate in Malta.  We saw Maltese crosses in all the shops, and I bought one to remember this picturesque spot.  I don't remember any Maltese dogs.  I guess they're fake.