Archeological park UNESCO!

 I took a taxi up into Siracusa this morning, after cooling off in the sea and having a lemon granita.  It is called the Neapolis Archeological park and it is a place you can see Greek, Roman, and early Christian ruins all in one spot.  After getting your ticket and audio guide, you will look like this:

You might be concerned because you are about to take a 1.5 hour long hike in the middle of the day in a place where there is no shade.  You have no hat.  No water.  But you're determined.

First you walk down into the Latomia del Paradiso.  This is the ancient rock quarry where "workers" spent their days chiseling out huge chunks of rock in different shapes and sizes.  It's called Paradise right now because somewhere along the line, someone decided to plant a lovely garden with lots of flowering trees.

 Down into the park you continue.  The quarry is massive.

There are chisel marks everywhere.  Apparently, the workers would chisel a line into a section of rock, add wooden pegs and then hammer those until the rock split along the line. 

There are so many caves that are off limits to tourists.  There's this one that is of particular interest.  According to legend, Saint Paul preached here in 64 AD?

Then you hike out of the quarry, up and up, until you get to a high mark on the hill where those clever Greeks built their theater.  It overlooks the bay, which is looking impressive from this perspective.  Later, Christians used this side of the hill for tombs.  And those are everywhere as well.

You walk down and stroll along the altar of Hieron.  It's 200 meters long and is thought to have been used as a massive sacrificial altar.  450 bulls.  Wha??  Huge barbeque afterwards.

Now make your way to the Roman amphitheater:

And as you head toward the exit, you have a few things to say about the need for a team with weedeaters: 

Hope you enjoyed all the videos.  I thought that was the best way to show you all these marvels.  Photos don't do it sometimes....