Blue Guide, Sicily by Ellen Grady

Simply the best! The editor of this Blue Guide, Sicily (ISBN 978-1-905131-54-9) is Dr Michael Metcalfe, whom I had the immense pleasure to meet on several trips organized by Peter Sommer Travels.

This travel guide starts with a sketchy presentation of Sicily’s complex history. After that, each province of Sicily is being explained in detail, beginning each time with a short history of its own followed by the role its capital and other main cities played over the centuries, highlighting the main buildings and others, inclusive opening hours, entrance fees and handy phone numbers. Clear town plans and site maps help the prospective visitor to find his way among the Graeco-Roman ruins and in the web of streets and alleys of these cities and towns. Key events or key personalities receive special attention in a framed window, and clear drawings and an occasional (black & white) picture definitely help to get a good idea of what to expect.

At the end of each chapter treating a separate province, there is a list of hotels and restaurants that deserve to be taken into consideration. That goes for all the provinces of Sicily: Palermo, Trapani, Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Enna, Ragusa, Syracuse, Catania and Messina.

The guide concludes with some practical information about opening hours, emergency numbers, means of communication and travel, and finally some details about accommodation and the island’s wide range of typical food and drinks (wines). There also is a glossary of special terms, mostly pertaining to Greek temples and theatres, handily completed with drawings of the basic temple design, the classical orders of the temples, the design of ancient theatres, as well as the names and shapes of all kinds of pottery one can encounter. It also includes a list of Sicilian architects, painters and sculptors. At the very end of the guide holds a full road map of Sicily and a series of more detailed maps by province. In short, everything you need to know before heading for this beautiful island but also extremely useful while travelling around.

To my greatest pleasure and utmost satisfaction I did indeed visit this island in a two-weeks tour led by Dr Michael Metcalfe in person (for the tour details of Peter Sommer Travels, see Exploring Sicily), who truly brought Sicily and its rich history and culture to life!

Archimedes, the most illustrious citizen of Syracuse

If one name is immediately associated with Syracuse, it certainly is the mathematical genius Archimedes (ca 287-212 BC). Yes, we all know he was Greek but never realized that he actually lived and died in Sicily, which was then part of Magna Graecia.

It is unclear whether he was a close friend or a relative of King Hieron II of Syracuse (c.308-215 BC). Still, we know that the king sponsored Archimedes’ trip to Alexandria to study at the renowned Library. Here he seems to have met his friend Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene, whom he mentioned in the introduction of two of his works. 

Archimedes was working for Hieron II and his son Gelon II constructing devices such as catapults, burning mirrors, and an iron claw, a sort of crane with a grappling hook that could lift the ships out of the water and make them capsize and sink. He is also famous for inventing an orrery, i.e., a mechanical model of the solar system. The sun is at its center, and the earth rotates around it. The device could predict solar and lunar eclipses. Archimedes established the relationship between the circumference and the diameter of a circle. 

His best-known invention happened while he took a bath and noticed that the water level rose when he stepped into the tub. This led to his theory to calculate the volume of an object, and he was so excited about his discovery that he ran out of his house, stark naked, shouting “Eureka!” I found it! Vitruvius says that Archimedes applied this principle when King Hieron II asked him to determine whether the votive crown he had ordered for a temple was indeed made with pure gold he had supplied. He suspected the goldsmith to add some cheaper silver. A charming anecdote, no doubt, but it may not be entirely accurate as the calculations are far more complex than that.

Another invention called the Archimedes’ screw has been used successfully over the centuries and still is in those places where water has to be moved from a lower level to higher grounds or canals. His system, consisting of a revolving screw inside a cylinder, even applies to moving coal or grain. There are, however, discussions that tend to attribute the invention to the Babylonians who used the principle to irrigate their Hanging Gardens.

As written down by Athenaeus of Naucratis, history tells us that King Hieron II asked Archimedes in 240 BC to build a large ship to carry huge supplies. It also should be used in war as well as for pleasure. It was, in fact, a catamaran weighing 4,000 tons for which timber from Mount Etna was used together with rosewood and ivory from Africa and rope from Iberia – nothing less! It could transport 600 people and was enhanced with a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, a gymnasium, and even a garden! Because of its size, the ship that was appropriately called the Syracusia would leak considerably through the hull, but Archimedes’ screw could pump the excess bilge water out. As the boat was far too big to anchor in most harbors, Hieron II generously sent it to Ptolemy IV Philopator in Egypt loaded with wheat when Egypt was struck by famine.

It should be noted that Hieron II perfectly realized the advantages of taking side with Rome rather than resisting it, and his sixty-year-long reign brought the city great prosperity. This especially shows in the colossal altar used to sacrifice to Zeus. As many as 450 bulls could be offered in one day. It is still there for us to see, nearly 200m long and 23 meters wide, making it the most enormous altar ever known. Initially, it was 15 meters high until the Spaniards reused the stones to fortify the harbor of Syracuse iin 1526. We also owe this king the construction of the largest theater of the Greek world of his days that could hold 15,000 people. When Hieron II died in 215 BC, his successor decided to choose the Carthaginians' side, who were threatening Rome at the time. This event had unfortunate results for our dear Archimedes.

 

During the Second Punic War, the Romans, after a two-year-long siege, finally took possession of Syracuse. The leading general, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, had issued clear instructions that whoever found Archimedes should treat him kindly and not harm him. Yet an inpatient soldier noticing that the old man refused to meet his general killed Archimedes, totally absorbed in his mathematical diagram. Apparently, the soldier had not realized that he was addressing Archimedes – this is at least what Plutarch tells us.

Not a single trace is left of Archimedes in today’s in today’s Syracuse, except for a square in the heart of Ortygia that is named after him, Piazza Archimede. Recently a tiny science museum has opened there, entirely dedicated to the city’s famous citizen exhibiting many interactive displays and models that illustrate some of his inventions and theories like the Stomachon, a 14-piece composition puzzle; a sphere contained by the cylinder; and the burning mirrors. These are all very intriguing and very much worth the visit.

[Drawings taken from Wikipedia]

Alexander sets out to cross to Asia

When Alexander left Pella in the spring of 334 BC, the city of Thessaloniki, about 46 km further east, did not exist, meaning that his army marched through the plains to near modern Lagkadàs. From there, we can choose between two roads towards Amphipolis: the freeway north of Lake Koroneia and Lake Volvi or the local road following these lakes' southern banks. Both roads are enjoyable to drive. They give a vivid idea of the terrain crossed by Alexander and before him by his father, King Philip II, during his repeated battles on the Chalcidice peninsula.

Alexander didn't set out from Pella with the entire army, only with his Macedonians. The delegations from the northern Balkan tribes joined him at Amphaxatis near the mouth of the Axios River. In Amphipolis, Parmenion met his king with the contingents from Greece and the Greek mercenaries, where Alexander's fleet connected with his land forces. The entire army that must have counted nearly 30,000 men and 5,000 cavalry, marched towards Abdera and Maroneia, both in Greek hands. After crossing the Hebrus River, Alexander led his troops to Sestos on the Chersonese peninsula in European Turkey, where he arrived twenty days after leaving home. Here he had his first glance at Asia lying across the Dardanelles, known as the Hellespont in antiquity, which formed a significant natural barrier for any invading army.

The crossing of the Hellespont, done in the opposite direction a good century early by the Persian armies of Darius I and Xerxes, cannot be underestimated. The current at the narrowest point is extremely swift as the water is squeezed between the low continental banks.

Here, I pick up history when traveling with Peter Sommer In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. It's a trip I had the immense pleasure of following by walking, driving, and sailing for almost three weeks, the best days of my life! Peter himself had walked the entire distance from Istanbul to Iskenderun near the Syrian border, searching for Alexander's path, and he read the landscape like no other – a blessing beyond description!

Before crossing the Hellespont, we stop at a plant that processes shells, where I can walk to the very edge of the water to have a first look at the blue landmass of Asia on the other side. A thrilling experience for this must have been what Alexander saw 2,500 years ago. A little further down the Chersonese peninsula, Peter points at a wide flat between the low rolling hills - the plain of Arisbe - where Alexander's army set up camp pending their ferry to the other side. My imagination immediately gets to work, pitching tents, lighting campfires, building stockades where soldiers keep watch, and adding the sound of men talking, yelling, singing, or cursing. What a place!

My crossing is not in style with any of Alexander's 160 triremes that moved back and forth to transport men and beasts over several days, but instead, I take a regular ferry from Kilitbahir to Çanakkale. Once onboard, I look back and forth. Behind me are the remains of Ottoman forts with a proud Turkish flag on top, and ahead of me, the busy quays of the city. This spot was the land where Alexander jumped from his ship in full armor and threw his spear into Asian soil, taking Asia as the spear-won territory from the very start.

Like Alexander, we first visit Troy, home of Homer's Trojan War, where the young king's heroes had fought and died. Not much remained of the old city in his days, but its history and legends were still very much alive. During my visit, I was led by an expert who had worked closely with Manfred Korfmann. The archaeologist dedicated the last 16 years of his life to Troy. I receive a simplified view of the nine successive layers of Troy built one on top of the other over the 3,000 thousand years of its existence, but I still cannot sort it out. The different layers of the city are labeled with numbers to help the visitor locate each time frame, but then the layers get mixed up or disappear. In the end, all I see is a variety of walls fitting certain buildings at some time in history. The discovery of Troy by Heinrich Schliemann in 1871 is general knowledge, and his so-called Treasure of Priam turned out to be at least one thousand years older. Schliemann had read Homer's Iliad, and so had Alexander, who slept with a copy of the book with annotations made by Aristotle. Both men were inspired by the Iliad, although in very different ways and for different reasons. But in the end, Troy is Troy, the city of Alexander's hero, Achilles.

The guide then takes me to an odd-looking hill with scant remains. This is the spot where the Temple of Athena stood. Here Alexander made a gift of his armor in exchange for some weapons from the Trojan War that could have belonged to Achilles – or at least that is probably what Alexander wanted to believe. I stare at the hardened soil between the stones that barely outline the temple walls, and I wonder whether or not I am standing in the space where Alexander once stood. The temple clings to the cliff's edge, offering an unreal but peaceful view over a plain. In his days, this mainly was a sea.

The cherry on the cake for that day is the most surprising. Our minivan drives off from Troy over local roads and suddenly stops at the end of a dirt road in the middle of what seems to be an orchard. From here, we continue on foot through waist-high barley fields, at whose edges I discover a tumulus. It is the Tomb of Achilles! For a moment, I'm speechless. How exciting! I have seen many tumuli in the landscape earlier today, but hearing that this one is actually the hero's burial site is extremely exciting. According to some, Achilles' tomb also contains his faithful friend Patroclus's remains, making the place even more special as Alexander saw himself as Achilles and his dearest boyhood friend Hephaistion as Patroclus. Both men cut their hair and laid a wreath on this tomb. Afterward, they ran a race around it, stripped of all their clothes. The picture certainly fuels my imagination!

We all rush to the top, where some rough stones crown the summit for no reason. What a place to visit, to touch, to experience. The view this late in the afternoon is blessed with the delicate light of diminishing sunlight, covering the landscape with a soft glow. I can actually see a good stretch of the seashore. Peter kindly pinpoints the very bay where the Greek fleet was hidden from view by the Trojans while awaiting the city gates to be opened by the soldiers hidden inside the famous Trojan Horse. So much history has happened on these grounds! What a place to be.

From here, Alexander rejoined his troops, which had all crossed the Hellespont into Asia by now. He soon would have to face the Persian enemy (see: The Battle of the Granicus), and I'll pick up his traces tomorrow.

Tapestries showing Alexander the Great

Somehow, I missed the excitement around two huge Flemish tapestries depicting Alexander the Great!

Every year, Brussels is hosting a fair of Antique and Fine Art Dealers and recently the event was in the news because they contributed to the restoration of two tapestries made in the workshops of Pasquier Grenier around 1460 in Tournai (Belgium), and which are presently part of the Princes Doria Pamphilj Collection in the Palazzo del Principe in Genoa (Italy). 

Alexander is being represented here as rendered in the so-called Alexander Romance, a personage I find rather remote from his true historical context – in as far as we are still able to find it after two thousand five hundred years, of course.

Wool and silk, gold and silver threads were used to weave these huge tapestries that were in an advanced state of disintegration. The old silk threads were pulverized; most of the brown wool was corroded by the iron components used in the original dyeing process; and many warp threads were broken or missing due to accidents or mishandling.

The Royal Manufacturers De Wit in Mechelen (Belgium) is one of the rare places capable of performing this kind of restoration job although seldom done on pieces of such poor condition. Each tapestry (about 10 meters long) required two years of work, cleaning them first, followed by an overall stabilization of the material and a consolidation of the weaker areas. Finally, a sturdy lining provided the much needed support to hold the tapestry together and camouflage the gaps.

According to the specialists, these tapestries are spectacular, not only because of their composition and design, but also because of their technical aspect and color palette, and should be ranked among the finest examples of 15th century tapestries to survive. The Story of Alexander knew at least seven tapestry versions, all created between 1460 and 1470, and these two examples most likely belonged to Admiral Andrea Doria, who commanded the fleet of Charles the Fifth at the battle of Tunis in 1535.

The first tapestry shows young Alexander surrounded by his mother Olympias and his father, Philip II; the taming of Bucephalus; and his first military victories; culminating with the crowning of Alexander by his dying father. The second tapestry, depicts six scenes of Alexander’s conquests of Asia, including idealistic (and in my eyes unrealistic) images where Alexander soars the skies in a cage drawn by griffons, and later travels under water in a glass bulb, to finally journey to the end of the world where wild men and dragons live.

They are lively illustrations of the Alexander Romance that was popular at the time, embellished thanks to the ideals of the Crusaders, for whom Alexander became an example of virtue and morality for knighthood of the late Middle Ages. Not exactly my cup of tea, as you can imagine, but it shows how much Alexander stimulated the imagination of mankind over the centuries. And he still does …

[Picture from Princes Doria Pamphilj Collection at the Palazzo del Principe in Genoa].

Plans to dig out Philippopolis (Plovdiv)

Few people are aware that modern Plovdiv is one of the oldest cities in Europe as its origins go back some 6,000 years. It was conquered by King Philip II of Macedonia who changed the Thracian name of Eumolpia into Philippopolis, meaning “the city of Philip”, in 340 BC.

Very few remains from those days have been revealed so far and what we see today is mostly Roman. In 46 AD Emperor Claudius made it “the largest and most beautiful of all cities” as Lucian tells us. The most important military road in the Balkans, the Via Militaris, passed right through Philippopolis, the major communication line between Belgrade and Byzantium. Roman times led to flourishing commerce and monumental constructions of which so far the theatre is the best known example.

In recent years many new excavations have been carried out and slowly the Roman city is rising from its ashes as archaeologists have been able to locate and partly expose many public buildings like the Stadium, Treasury, Baths facilities, Odeon, and other structures around the central Forum. A defensive double city wall has been found and an excellent water and sewage system has been established.

Lately, the archaeologists’ attention has focused on the area around the Forum which was built at the time of Emperor Augustus, probably in part on top of an older Hellenistic Agora although this is not yet entirely certain. This Forum however covers a surface of 11 hectares, arguably one of the largest Roman Forums in the country. On the eastern and southern sides, we find the known Theatre and the Stadium, while the western and northern sides were occupied by a series of shops connected to the Forum by a ten-meter-wide Stoa. Meanwhile, the Propylaea, defining the entrance to the Forum have been located and need excavation.

[Picture from The Sofia Globe, the Odeon. Photo by Clive Leviev-Sawyer]

Unfortunately, under the communist regime of the 1970’s a concrete post-office was built smack in the middle of today’s excavation site and this is not helping in reconstructing the city’s past. It is in this area that the Odeon has been dug out next to a theater that is smaller than the existing one. Plans are made to remove some modern buildings, including the post office, in order to create an archaeological passage between the different monuments – but the matter is evidently subject to a lot of red tape.

For now, finds seem to be limited to smaller items like Roman and Medieval coins, tiles with theatrical masks, Roman bowls, cups, amphorae, and other pottery, some glassware, and vessels used in religious ceremonies.

No wonder that Plovdiv is running to become the European Capital of Culture in 2019.