9. Sicily - Selinunte

Entering this vast site at Selinunte on the south west coast of Sicily, high on a cliff overlooking what is now a village beach but was once a deep water trading port, we thought we were approaching "just another huge Greek temple".

Wrong!  This gigantic pile of rocks and weeds is an entire Greek city.

And no-one can do weeds as well as the Sicilians.

The whole site was originally cleared of vegetation.  Access roads, walking paths and a museum were built around 1960 when reconstruction of the Heraion temple (above) began. Little weeding has been done since.

The modern rediscovery of the remains of Heraion date back to 1823 when two young British archeologists found the famous sculpted friezes amongst the completely overgrown ruins.

It took until the 1950's to get a restoration project funded and underway. The temple was rebuilt from the fallen pieces found and identified on the site.  Greek temples usually had a rich coating of colour, especially in the friezes atop the columns.  Scraps remain in the museum.

There are three temples in a row on this part of the site, as you can see from the arial photo on the information board, taken in the 1950's when the site was clear of weedy growth.  The reconstructed temple (Temple E) is at the bottom, the ruins of a very large structure (Temple G) at the top and a smaller temple (Temple F) in the middle. The museum on the left.

Few columns still stand at Temple F.  This one remains a sentinel amidst fallen columns, lintels, friezes, steps and gigantic bases.

Looking back past Temple F  to the reconstructed Temple E. You can clearly see the column that has fallen forward.

The heavy work of quarrying, cutting and moving columns, not on site and not on flat ground, but 11 kilometres away over the hills in Cuna.

Temple G, the last of the three was one of the largest in the Greek world, built in the mid 5th century BC. It was the oldest temple on this site.

Not much remains.  Much would have been removed and used for other purposes in the past two centuries. The next photograph of me is taken amidst the (weeds and) the fallen column on the lower right of this picture.

A drawing depicting the city of Heraion from the sea, with another three temples and the buildings around the port.  This part of the city is probably about 750 m from the first three temples we saw at the entrance to the archeological site.

This is how it looks today. You'd be forgiven for thinking that might be Inspector Montalbano's house on the water's edge.  But no ... that comes later this week.  Back to the temples .....

There is one temple with some columns standing, surrounded by many shops and dwellings.

The columns of this temple were originally reconstructed in 1925.

Major work was needed to strengthen the structure in 2013.

The area is roped off, understandably.

But what is still on the ground is pretty impressive.

The wind has whittled a larger hole between these stones.

The walls of shops and dwellings.

A final drawing of the city from the sea showing the natural cliffs with defensive walls above.  Whereas the first drawing showed these three temples face on to the sea, this drawing shows their impressive side view and the dwellings and shops of the city behind.

Having been just about blown off the cliffs at Selinunte (it has been windy here for a week), we headed home along rural roads lined with red poppies.

Home for the last three days has been the lower floor of this "holiday house" owned by a family in Menfi with a ceramics business (tiles and bathroom fittings). 

It is on high ground overlooking the sea.  Absolutely spotless but without any heating, made worse by the wind.

Also without wifi and on two mornings, without hot water.  Win some - loose some.  Won the wifi with a Personal Wifi Hotspot from the Vodafone shop in Sciacca.  Very reasonable - 59 euros for the modem, 10 euros for the SIM and 35 euros for 35G at 4G

Of course, we were in this particular residential location because of a restaurant. 

Georgio Locatelli's favourite called 'da Vittorio' on the rocky beach at Porto Palo.

Two nights of fabulous seafood, fish and pasta cooked by Vittorio himself. The restaurant may look empty but half an hour later (about 9pm) was three quarters full on a Monday night.

A portrait of a happy man studying the wine list.

Next - blown along to the UNESCO World Heritage site at Agrigento.

8. Sicily - Segesta

Eleven years ago, in 2006, we came to Sicily to "have a look around".

It was the year that Australia made it to the final sixteen of the World Cup. We watched the qualifying rounds at an outdoor bar in St. Vito La Cappo on the far north west corner of Sicily.  It was extremely hot - 100 degrees in the shade type of weather, except that there was no shade.  We were the only English speaking people in the town and certainly the only people barracking (loudly) for Australia in an outdoor bar with a big screen television. We spent the days basking and swimming on acres of pristine white beach and in the late afternoons and evenings,  in the waterside cafes and bars.  Ahhh, memories!

This trip we have decided to do the historical sites rather than just the beaches and coastal magnificence. That is how we found our way to Segesta - an ancient Greek settlement in Sicily. And as history goes ... after the Greeks it was the Romans and then the Turks and so on.

In 260 BC the original Greek city surrendered to the Romans. Little is known about the city under Roman rule, but it is probable that the population gradually moved to the port city of Castellammare del Golfo due to better trading opportunities.

The ruins of the city are located on the top of Monte Bàrbaro at 305 m above sea level. The city was protected by steep slopes on several sides and by walls on the more gentle slope.

The hilltop offers a view over the valley towards the Gulf of Castellamare. The city controlled several major roads between the coast to the north and the hinterland.

Very little is known about the city plan. Aerial photography indicates a regular city plan, built in part on terraces to overcome the natural sloping terrain. The city appears to have been finally abandoned by the second half of the 13th century.

This is the view from the amphitheatre at the highest point, to the temple (rectangular shape, top centre) lower down the terrain. 

And so we walk down .... 

On a hill just outside the site of the ancient city of Segesta lies an unusually well preserved Greek Doric temple. It is thought to have been built in the 420's BC with six by fourteen columns on a base measuring 21 by 56 meters, on a platform three steps high. 

Several elements suggest that the temple was never actually finished. The columns have not been fluted as they normally would have been in a Doric temple and there are still tabs present in the blocks of the base (used for lifting the blocks into place but then normally removed). It also lacks a cella and was never roofed over. 

The temple is also unusual as the city was not mainly populated by Greeks and it lacks any painted or sculptured ornamentation, altar, and deity dedication. But it is still awe inspiring.

It is 2,500 years old.  That is old!

7. Sicily - Palermo

There's so much to tell you, but the internet has not been strong and so we have been using what we have to book our next two weeks in Sicily.

Flew into Palermo on a short hop from Malta.  No sooner were we in the air than we were preparing to land.  Not even time to serve a bread roll and a little bottle of water, which is what we had  on the flight from Rome to Malta.

We picked up our Hertz hire car at Palermo airport.  By pre-booking and pre-paying we saved 50% of the cost than if we had hired on the spot.  We even got an upgrade to a new Dacia Duster with inbuilt GPS when Paul noted the atrocious amount they charged to rent a GPS for the Fiat Punto we had originally booked.

We had pre-booked a tiny studio apartment right in the Centro Storico in the old port area.  That's the building on the right in the first photo.

Palermo has really got its tourist act together now - apartments are easy to find and well managed.  The traffic is atrocious still - quite nerve wracking for the first few hours till you get a sense of it.  To me it is traumatic chaos.  To Paul it is a matter of "rolling with the punches". That is pretty much our life when I come to think about it.

Palermo city was much cleaner than we remembered.  We had planned to follow a couple of walking routes around this historical centro area, but it took us so long to book our ongoing accommodation for the next two weeks that our whole second day was used up before we knew it and we only had time to walk our immediate streets (which were in shadow) and the huge waterfront park between our residential area and the ferry and commercial shipping port.

We came across several shops like this one selling only beans, seeds and pulses - including the budgie and finch food in bags out the front.  This shop was full of people, none of whom were smiling at me - so I did not want to intrude .... after all, this is the home of the mafia.

Famed for its glorious golden mosaics, Monreale Cathedral is one of the finest Norman buildings in Sicily and we visited as we drove out of town. It was built in the 12th century as part of a grand royal complex in the hills overlooking Palermo.

The cathedral was built from 1174 to 1185. It was commissioned by William II (1154-89), the Norman ruler of Sicily, who wished to demonstrate the magnificence of his kingdom and outdo the splendid Palatine Chapel built by his grandfather, Roger II. The project employed both Sicilian and Byzantine craftsmen, resulting in a magnificent fusion of eastern and western influences.

The undisputed highlight of Monreale Cathedral is its richly mosaiced interior. Dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, the golden mosaics completely cover the walls of the nave, aisles, transept and apse - amounting to 68,220 square feet in total. 

The mosaic cycle is second only to the Hagia of Sofia in size, and much better preserved. 

Some of the mosaics were created by craftsmen brought from Venice.

The Cappella di San Benedetto, decorated in the 16th century, contains the porphyry sarcophagus of William I (d. 1166) and marble tomb of William II (d. 1190).

Here lies William 1 (d.1166) - moved for some renovations.

Everything you see is mosaic, not painting. It was absolutely stunning.

From Palermo we headed west to the Greek ruins at Segesta.