These columns from the Baroque facade of the Duomo on Ortigia are in the Corinthian architectural style for a reason. The city of Siracusa, with Ortigia Island as its jewel, was founded in 734 BC as a colony of Corinth, Greece. Over the subsequent centuries, Siracusa became the most important city of Magna Grecia. Corinthian…
Tag: acanthus
Immortal Leaves
This column capital from the small archaeological museum at Tindari is a classic example of Greco-Roman Corinthian architectural design. What we learned from our guide Sebastiano was that the ornamental leaves accenting the column’s top are from the Acanthus mollis plant (also known in English as bear’s breeches). Acanthus mollis and its sister-plant Acanthus spinosus…