If it ain’t baroque…..a trip to Noto

Ciao di nuovo dall’Italia,

Yesterday we decided to brave the Sicilian bus system again and set off for Noto. This is a town built entirely from scratch in the early 18th century after the original Noto was destroyed by an earthquake in 1693.

It is impressive; built from the same light coloured limestone as most of Siracusa. A main attraction is the Duomo. I’m sure we would have been impressed had it been open. Apparently it closes from 12 to 4 every day. We got there at 11:30, but it had already closed. Interestingly, the last bus leaves at 5 minutes to 4.‎ Go figure. The next pics are a couple of impressive churches that were open for business.

To be honest, I was getting a bit churched out. So we inspected a beautiful little theatre like a slighter smaller scale La Scala, and an interesting small museo. The cathedral’s vast bronze doors were made by a famous sculpture Giuseppe Pirrone. I following are pics of a couple of his bronzes in the Museo that really impressed me.

And, that was Noto. We had a tasty panino each, a cold drink and headed back to the bus stop.

Last night, we actually found a little trattoria that specialised in vegetarian dishes (how’s that Sam), and really enjoyed their food and excellent range of local wines – tried a local syrah that I really enjoyed (Sally’s nero d’avola was also good, but it shows that the wine scene is not one dimensional).

Today we visited the Santaurio Madonna delle Lacrime (thanks for the tip Peter). This stunning modern church, which towers over the newer part of Siracusa, is an architectural triumph – see pics of the conical roof, and from the floor under the tower.

In the same area, we took a guided tour through the catacombs under Chiesa di San Giovanni. Really worth the visit. The early Christians turned the original Greek underground water system into a 10,000 square metre network of burial sites with interconnected streets and chapels (Foto non permesso).

And finally, we made our way to the Parco Archiologico Neopolis. This contains hectares of early Greek and Roman ruins. Very interesting, but very hot. The highlight for me was the Teatro Greco – carved out of the solid rock (impressive builders those Greeks, Gary).