It’s not lost on me (or my friend, tour guide Rosa Rizza) that when they broke ground in 1973 at Piazza della Vittoria in Siracusa to build the Sanctuary for the Madonna of the Tears, that where they intended to place the church, they discovered the foundation of the late 5th/early 4th century BCE Sanctuary for Demeter and Persephone (pictured in the foreground). Historians and archeologists had been searching for the temple dedicated to the Chthonic deities for decades with no result until then.

During excavations, archeologists found thousands of votive statuettes for the goddesses that are now housed in the nearby Museo Orsi.

The goddess’ energy is profound.