Road Trip Sicily - Piazza Armerina & Agrigento

We recently made a week long tour of Sicily, hitting the remains of ancient Greek temples as well as some of the more impressive Duomi of the island such as at Monreale on the outskirts of Palermo. Sicily has a beautiful, complex mix of ancient, medieval, and contemporary architecture and the people seem like a melange of the same from numerous ethnic origins.  The country side is far more mountainous than I imagined (Etna is huge.) and is made up of a plethora of olive, grape, and citrus groves and farms of all kind.  Though Palermo is the fifth largest city in Italy in terms of population, the island appears devoted to agriculture and fabulous food. 

There is, of course, much to say about life in Sicily:  for example, except for the autostrada, driving here is best described as a free-for-all that has little comparison to anything in North America, including NYC.  Italians, Sicilians particularly, are either the best or the worst drivers anywhere. We can't decide; it's like a madness but interestingly there seem to be few serious accidents. We drove the diagonal of the island, from Palermo to Siracusa in about 3.5 hours. Everyone, everywhere, whether on the autostrada or not, is in a major hurry once behind the wheel. God knows why? Road rules, especially in Sicily, are meant to be broken at first chance. Parking occurs in any fashion and in any direction.  If you can fit your vehicle in a spot, then it’s good. The food is fabulous, the wine is very inexpensive, and there is dolce and espresso every morning and the big meal at noon. 

Feb 10
Piazza Armerina
First stop of our road trip across Sicily was to Piazza Armerina. We got lost a few times but thanks to our friendly and helpful GPS girl whom we have fondly named Lucia, we made it. In Piazza Armerina are the remains of a Roman Villa built between the 3rd and 4th Century AD, the Villa of Casale. It is believed to have been built by a member of the imperial family of Rome. Whoever it was had lots of money and so the idea of it being someone imperial makes sense. 

What saved the villa and its many amazingly well preserved mosaics was a landslide which buried the villa in the 12C until its discovery at the end of the 19C. The complex is huge and impressive and what makes the villa unique are its floors which are entirely of mosaics that have survived in excellent condition. We weren't allowed to take any photos so to give you an idea of the number and condition of the mosaics here's a site to visit: 

http://wn.com/roman_mosaics_from_villa_del_casale,_sicily

Feb 10-11
Agrigento
Agrigento, like many Sicilian towns, is beautifully balanced on a hill. Of course our B&B was at the topmost section of the city so the drive took us higher and higher through narrower and narrower streets. The trick is to drive up the street beeping your horn to let oncoming vehicles know you're coming, say a prayer to the Madonna, and drive as fast as you can to the other side. This is how it's done in Sicily. 

Naturally, we got lost and thanks to the help of a wonderful young man (forced by his mother to show us the way) we found our way to the Via Duomo and our B&B.  We arrived a little later than expected and were warmly greeted by our host, Alfonso.  A lovely and gregarious Italian gentleman.  We found the people of Agrigento to be kind and helpful to strangers who speak only a little Italian.

After a good night's sleep and an enormous breakfast served by the Signora of the house we were well stocked and filled for the day. Happily it was quite a warm and sunny day - perfect to view this exquisite site with its many temples. Our first stop was the Temple of Juno. The Greeks picked a perfect site - blue sky and blue sea are background to all the temples.

Temple of Juno

As you continue on the sacred way, you see the Temple of Concordia in the distance. This is a best preserved temple at the site. 

 

Temple of Concordia

The next stop is the Temple of Zeus considered to be the largest temple planned by the Greeks. Unfortunately, it was never completed. The columns are so huge it's mind boggling. Part of the columnar structure were these enormous telemons supposedly intended to support the temple roof. This picture gives you an idea of just how big they are and this was 1/3 of the entire column!!

 

Telemon & Caroline

 

The remaining temples, Temple of Hercules, Temple of Pollux and Castor and Temple of Vulcan have a few columns standing with most of the temple structure strewn around the foundation.

Albert at the Temple of Hercules

 

On our last day Agrigento, we visited the Duomo (right next door to the B&B) and  the Chiesa of Santa Maria Dei Greci. The Duomo is in serious need of repairs. The sandstone walls are literally crumbling. The Chiesa is, like many churches in Sicily, built around and on the remains of an older Greek temple.  Why start afresh when there's already something there?  Makes perfect sense.



 

Duomo Agrigento
 

 



Chiesa Santa Maria Dei Greci