When we go to Sicily, it's likely that we're going to the city of Syracuse, and visiting some interesting sites. Timmy supplied us with a list of historical spots, one of them being the Quarry of Dionysius, which is also called the Ear of Dionysius. It's a large limestone cave that is over 20 meters high and extending over 60 meters back into the cliff face. The white limestone was used to construct the city of Syracuse. The cave is teardrop shaped and the length of it is curved in an S-shape it seems. Anyway, the cave was dug in ancient times to operate as a water storage system, but it also may have been a natural phenomenon. The shape of the quarry has characteristics similar to slot canyons and its polished walls could have been created by rainwater runoff long ago.
The main reason for the ear reference is the acoustics of the cave! Small sounds resonate through the structure, although its acoustic properties have diminished now due to earthquake damage and inaccessibility to the focal point of the quarry. Legends say that Dionysius kept his political prisoners there in order to listen in to their plots, or possibly to hear the screams of his captives under torture.
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