Siracusa - Castello Eurialo

S/V Goldcrest
David & Lindsay Inwood
Tue 25 May 2010 19:52

Two photos of Castello Eurialo, a few kilometres outside Syracuse and the biggest surviving Greek fortification in the Med.  We went there yesterday and it was extra magical because we had the place to ourselves.  Construction started around 400 BC and Archimedes may have had a hand in planning it.  It has a wonderful position on a ridge overlooking the city and the bay of Syracuse and is pretty substantial.  The most amazing part of it is the “galleries”, an extensive system of tunnels and passages hewn into the rock which meant soldiers could be moved around without alerting the enemy.   The site was also covered in dozens of different wildflowers which were lovely .

 

 

Tomorrow we leave on the long crossing (260 miles) to Cephalonia which should take around 52 hours or so.  The forecast winds are not brilliant so we will probably be motoring for most of the time.  Today the weather finally seems to be more like we would expect for late May in the Med.  It really has been surprisingly cool up till now and fellow sailors met on the way have confirmed that last year at this time was much warmer.  The harbour here in Syracuse is getting quite crowded now with at least 20 yachts anchored around us tonight.  It’s a bit of a rendezvous point for sailors who have met at other locations and includes a group of 5 US boats at the moment.  We have enjoyed our brief acquaintances with Sicily and look forward to coming back to the island later in our travels.