Syracuse

Syracuse is one of the great cities of ancient history and was instrumental in the downfall of Athens during the Peloponnesian Wars Here we see the theater, originally built in the 5th century BC

Looking down towards the stage of the theater After many years of war with Sparta, Athens sent a huge expedition to conquer Syracuse The result was an Athenian defeat and the eventual end of Athenian hegemony

Sonya in the nose bleed section of the theater with our German carrying bag

At the top of the theater is an area where an aqueduct flowed into these basins

This is our attempt to make the water silky by slowing down the camera speed

Just a nice walkway

This cave is called the Ear of Dionysius which was used to store supplies during the seige of Syracuse by the Athenians in the War

Looking out from inside the Ear of Dionysius For centuries this cave and others here were used as prisons Many an Athenian ended up in this dark place when the siege failed

This is all that remains of the Roman theater built after the Roman conquest of Sicily During the medieval times it was common to cart away the stones to build churches