Sicily, the Mediterranean’s largest island
The Ear of Dionysius (Orecchio di Dionisio), an artificial limestone cave carved out of the Temenites hill in the city of Syracuse. It was most likely formed out of an old limestone quarry and is 23 metres high and extends 65 metres back into the cliff. Because of its shape the Ear has extremely good acoustics, making even a small sound resonate throughout the cave. The name of the cave was coined in 1586 by the painter Caravaggio and refers to the Greek tyrant Dionysius I (c. 432-367 BCE) of Syracuse.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers, Sat Oct 08, 1994