Sicily
Sicily, greatest of the Mediterranean islands (over 25,000 square kilometres) and home to native, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic civilizations, offered us a tantalizing selection of some of these cultures in our day on the south coast at the sites of Selinunte (ancient Selinus) and Agrigento (ancient Akragas). Setting off from Malta over a sea silvered by a nearly full moon we followed the course of ancient mariners across the narrow straits between that island and Sicily. Sailing into the harbour of Porto Empedocle (named after an ancient local poet/scholar who famously committed suicide by jumping into the volcanic crater of Etna) we met our three local buses and guides. Two busloads with a taste for archaeology headed off on a ninety excursion down the coast to Selinunte for the morning while the rest took a half day morning trip to the nearby remains at Agrigento. A lively guide, Vittorio, serenaded one bus to help pass the time and at one point had half of us braying like donkeys in chorus.
Selinus lies between two small rivers near the ancient border between Greek and Phoenician (Punic) Sicily. Founded ca. 628 BC it controlled the rich wheat fields of the southwestern region of the island and quickly became one of the wealthiest towns in Sicily. By the next century the local population honoured their gods with a series of at least nine temples that included one of the largest religious buildings of the ancient Greek world, Temple “G” dedicated to Apollo and other important local divinities. Our visit began at the religious quarter east of the main city where we looked over the well preserved Temple E of the mid 5th century BC, the rather mysterious Temple F of the late 6th, and the grand field of earthquake ravaged ruins that is Temple G. Over a kilometre to the west lie the sprawling and poorly published remains of a huge townsite with well preserved walls rising up fifteen metres or more and neatly gridded streets that occupied several square kilometres of territory. For over two centuries the Selinuntines continued to prosper until, sadly for them, a Carthaginian army took advantage of Greek disunity and captured the city after a siege in 409 BC. The population was massacred or sold into slavery and Selinus became a Punic town for several generations until the Greeks took it back. Our visit focused on the seaward end of the town and the collection of ruined temples, dominated by the partly restored Temple C; it was a remarkable building that contained some of the earliest sculptured panels or metopes in Greek religious architecture. We also saw some of the houses with Punic style floor mosaics, often decorated with the sign of their goddess Tanit and talked with German surveyors preparing plans of the city. By then everyone was ready for a fine Sicilian meal by the sea: delicious risotto full of seafood to start that was followed by swordfish steaks and giant prawns.
Afternoon took us back along the coast to Selinus’ great rival, Akragas, founded by colonists from Gela and the island of Rhodes in 580 BC. Here a large modern town sits on top of the northern area of the ancient city but the entire southern portion (over a square mile) preserves its setting as a protected archaeological zone, home to another remarkable series of temples that include one of the best preserved in the entire Greek world. Here along a ridge running the entire southern side of the city architects of the 5th and 6th centuries BC built a series of eight temples and shrines that served not only as a monumental face to the city, clearly visible for miles out at sea but also as divine protection for the Agrigentines on the most accessible area of their fortifications. Our buses took us to the southeast corner of the city and we walked along “temple row” starting with “Juno Lacinia”—the ancient names in fact are not known for most of them—with its well preserved altar in front. Greek temples were not like churches but rather housed an image of a divinity and served as a house for his or her cult statue. Actual worship took place outdoors with animal sacrifices on the altars; these rituals not only kept the gods happy but also were often the only source of meat for the local population. Next to the west was the well preserved “Temple of Harmony”, in fact the best preserved temple in Sicily and built about 430 BC in the Doric style; thanks to its conversion to a Christian church in the middle ages it stands complete up to its roof line. Around it were the remains of dozens of early Christian tombs cut into the soft limestone of the hill. As the afternoon sun began to slide down toward the sea we made our way along to the last two temples that we visited, the 6th century “Temple of Herakles” and the incredible remains of the Temple of Olympieion Zeus, a building larger than a football field and using a unique plan found nowhere else in the Greek world with great screen walls between its four metre wide columns that rose over 18 metres in height. Between the columns and against the walls were eight metre high statues of giants that helped hold up the building. Our visit was all too short and folk agreed that Akragas was a place to which they would some day like to return and spend several days amid its archaeological riches.
Sicily, greatest of the Mediterranean islands (over 25,000 square kilometres) and home to native, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic civilizations, offered us a tantalizing selection of some of these cultures in our day on the south coast at the sites of Selinunte (ancient Selinus) and Agrigento (ancient Akragas). Setting off from Malta over a sea silvered by a nearly full moon we followed the course of ancient mariners across the narrow straits between that island and Sicily. Sailing into the harbour of Porto Empedocle (named after an ancient local poet/scholar who famously committed suicide by jumping into the volcanic crater of Etna) we met our three local buses and guides. Two busloads with a taste for archaeology headed off on a ninety excursion down the coast to Selinunte for the morning while the rest took a half day morning trip to the nearby remains at Agrigento. A lively guide, Vittorio, serenaded one bus to help pass the time and at one point had half of us braying like donkeys in chorus.
Selinus lies between two small rivers near the ancient border between Greek and Phoenician (Punic) Sicily. Founded ca. 628 BC it controlled the rich wheat fields of the southwestern region of the island and quickly became one of the wealthiest towns in Sicily. By the next century the local population honoured their gods with a series of at least nine temples that included one of the largest religious buildings of the ancient Greek world, Temple “G” dedicated to Apollo and other important local divinities. Our visit began at the religious quarter east of the main city where we looked over the well preserved Temple E of the mid 5th century BC, the rather mysterious Temple F of the late 6th, and the grand field of earthquake ravaged ruins that is Temple G. Over a kilometre to the west lie the sprawling and poorly published remains of a huge townsite with well preserved walls rising up fifteen metres or more and neatly gridded streets that occupied several square kilometres of territory. For over two centuries the Selinuntines continued to prosper until, sadly for them, a Carthaginian army took advantage of Greek disunity and captured the city after a siege in 409 BC. The population was massacred or sold into slavery and Selinus became a Punic town for several generations until the Greeks took it back. Our visit focused on the seaward end of the town and the collection of ruined temples, dominated by the partly restored Temple C; it was a remarkable building that contained some of the earliest sculptured panels or metopes in Greek religious architecture. We also saw some of the houses with Punic style floor mosaics, often decorated with the sign of their goddess Tanit and talked with German surveyors preparing plans of the city. By then everyone was ready for a fine Sicilian meal by the sea: delicious risotto full of seafood to start that was followed by swordfish steaks and giant prawns.
Afternoon took us back along the coast to Selinus’ great rival, Akragas, founded by colonists from Gela and the island of Rhodes in 580 BC. Here a large modern town sits on top of the northern area of the ancient city but the entire southern portion (over a square mile) preserves its setting as a protected archaeological zone, home to another remarkable series of temples that include one of the best preserved in the entire Greek world. Here along a ridge running the entire southern side of the city architects of the 5th and 6th centuries BC built a series of eight temples and shrines that served not only as a monumental face to the city, clearly visible for miles out at sea but also as divine protection for the Agrigentines on the most accessible area of their fortifications. Our buses took us to the southeast corner of the city and we walked along “temple row” starting with “Juno Lacinia”—the ancient names in fact are not known for most of them—with its well preserved altar in front. Greek temples were not like churches but rather housed an image of a divinity and served as a house for his or her cult statue. Actual worship took place outdoors with animal sacrifices on the altars; these rituals not only kept the gods happy but also were often the only source of meat for the local population. Next to the west was the well preserved “Temple of Harmony”, in fact the best preserved temple in Sicily and built about 430 BC in the Doric style; thanks to its conversion to a Christian church in the middle ages it stands complete up to its roof line. Around it were the remains of dozens of early Christian tombs cut into the soft limestone of the hill. As the afternoon sun began to slide down toward the sea we made our way along to the last two temples that we visited, the 6th century “Temple of Herakles” and the incredible remains of the Temple of Olympieion Zeus, a building larger than a football field and using a unique plan found nowhere else in the Greek world with great screen walls between its four metre wide columns that rose over 18 metres in height. Between the columns and against the walls were eight metre high statues of giants that helped hold up the building. Our visit was all too short and folk agreed that Akragas was a place to which they would some day like to return and spend several days amid its archaeological riches.
