Return To Our All-Time Favorite Doric/Baroque Temple/Cathedral, 2018

Still on our walk around Ortigia. We visited Siricusa's cathedral in 2011, and were knocked out by this Baroque cathedral plopped down undisguisedly on a 5th century BC Doric temple. It is amazing, and we have seen very few things to compare. Maybe the Mezquita, in its way. Usually, triumphant religions/regimes destroy all traces of predecessors and competitors. Not this time. It's one of those things that warrants revisiting. And I hope to see it again.

Exterior, approaching the Piazza Minerva; the Doric columns
are plainly visible

Piazza Minerva

Facade of the cathedral

West entry; OK, these columns are not Doric; but on the
other side...

Nave: what was the cella of the Doric temple

On the south aisle, huge, fluted Doric columns

West end: the Christians simply turned things around, making
the head of the Greek temple now the end, the cella the nave,
adding an apse at the entry to the Greek temple; and bricking
the whole thing up...

South aisle

Font said to be part of the original temple

Back out on the piazza, heading for the next church and Caravaggio's
Deposition of St. Lucia

Parthian shot, which I couldn't resist; of all Italian sites, except possibly the
Sistine Chapel, this is the most fiercely patrolled: "NO FOTOS!" It is also the
origin of my theory of Caravaggio's butt-centric aesthetics

Siracusa: Ortigia, 1

We drove on from Noto to Sicily's grand old city, Syracuse, which the Greeks founded way back in 733 BC, colonists from Corinth. (So why didn't they do Corinthian capitals?!). We visited Siricusa in 2011 and loved it: the new and the old; and the very old. Even in Archimedes' time, it was really four cities bunched together, of which Ortigia, the island, was the principal and oldest. In 2011, we visited the enormous inland archaeological park with its assorted Greek and Roman architectural monuments. This time, we just wanted spend a day walking Ortigia, which has plenty of antiquity by itself, plus much modernity and some really good trendy shopping. The next day, we'd do Syracuse's Paulo Orsi Museum, another favorite, another story.

The bit of water that separates Ortigia from the rest of the island (Sicily)

Just stepping onto Ortigia...the remains of the Temple of Apollo; the usual 5th
or 6th century Doric

On the piazza right next to the ruins, the police are holding an open class for
the kiddies on traffic mores and manners, maybe even laws; I always find these
things impressive, hopeful...

Back to the ruins...it was a big, important temple, in a big and important city,
some would say bigger and more important than Athens itself

I hope to return to Sicily some day; maybe the driving will be different and
better because of these classes...hope springs eternal

A really gorgeous fountain, said to be Art Nuvo....

If nothing else, Noto sensitized us to the potential beauty of balconies

It's not a big island; maybe ten minutes' walk across

Tight squeeze

Street scene

Did I mention that Sicily is really big on puppetry? Here, a puppet maker's shop

Another street scene

Wedding alert...!

"How much should I tip the priest?

After the ceremony, a little promenade on the city's main square

The priest was in confession for several hours after the ceremony, we conjectured

Noto Fotos, 3

We wanted more of Noto and so went back the next morning. Alas, despite the campground keeper's advice, it was pretty much all over, the markets, the crowds, the turbusses, all gone. But the floral mosaics were still there, wilting a bit, and also Noto's grand architecture, and a city getting back to normal after its annual extravaganza.

City portal; just another Monday morning now

Where we had eaten the night before

Enterprising nuns

Another Baroque

Pre-schoolers lined up for a field trip to the gelato shoppe; all in smocks, boys
in blue, girls in pink...

Cathedral; a mob scene the day befoore

The Corrado the next morning

Senatuus Populsque Notourm

Each individual panel labeled, thus

Add caption

About half way up, we began noticing the sculptured balconies of the Palazzo
Nicolaci, among the best in Europe (they say)

We stop in at the public library--in the Palazzo--for a breather

Continuing the floral mosaics back down; here, a dragon
attacking the Great Wall

City on a Monday morning

Kid with tamed parakeets; will let you pose with them for a euro

Idle turbusses

We spent two nights at the Noto Parcheggio Sosta, in a lemon grove; nice folks,
not much more English than our Italian; in  addition to lemons, they also sold
local olive oil, wines, honey, almonds, etc.; more of an ag sosta; the Rose was
pretty good...