The Temples: Segesta and Selinunte
Sicily has more than its share of ancient archeological sites and the three temple sites in the western part of the island are pretty much untouchable for imparting to us, 2500 years later, the energy and vitality of these people and what their life looked like. The last four days of our road trip was spent seeing and photographing these majestic structures. There was a total lunar eclipse the morning of May 16th and we had arranged our schedule to be in Agrigento for that, hoping for something dramatic. I'll tell you up front it was rather a bust. After all the intense planning, performing all the proscribed sacrifices to all the photography gods, not neglecting the weather gods, it was not to be. The clouds got me. But the gods did give me a few consolations so I came away with something. You can judge how worthwhile.
So on Saturday May 14th, first on the agenda is the temple at Segesta. Displaying the Doric style which is the oldest of the three Greek orders, it is the best example of Doric architecture anywhere. It was built about 420 BC but never completed. Very little of the city of Segesta remains, there is an amphitheater at the top of the hill, but the temple sits by itself nestled against a large ravine and the hill you see behind it.
After spending an hour or so shooting the temple we headed south to the next temple complex, Selinunte. But first we had to make a quick side trip to Castelvetrano, the ancestral home of our dear friend, Suzanne Palumbo Tushar. It was just off the highway so we pulled in and went straight to the cathedral. Found it locked but there was a smaller church right next door that was closing in five minutes. So we got a very brief visit. The church had a very unusual carving over the sanctuary.
We then went scouting for a better vantage point to photograph the cathedral. No luck. This is the only town in Sicily with no hills. But we did get an excellent lunch. We found the nearest thing to a New York deli we saw on the whole trip.
Then on to Selinunte. In ancient times this was the largest of the three sites and is the largest archeological site in Europe today. Well over 100,000 people lived inside its walls and it was the western boundary of Magna Gracia. This put them in conflict with the non Greek Sicilians and with Carthage, the superpower of the Mediterranean at that time. It was they who destroyed the city in 409 BC. Today the most intact of the five original temples is the one dedicated to Hera. And it is the only one, in any of the three temple complexes, that visitors are allowed to enter and walk through.
The other temple in this complex worth seeing is on the Acropolis, overlooking the sea.
We finished this shoot about 3:30 in the afternoon and found a vendor selling granita di mandorla (almond). As we dipped our little spatulas we discussed our next move. I really wanted to get some better light for my pictures. Any photographers who have been reading this blog have noticed by now that a lot of my pictures have been in high, harsh, mid day light. And blank blue skies. I really was hoping to get some evening light for these temples but sunset was not for almost five hours. So we decided to go down to the beach, dip our toes in the Mediterranean for a little while, try to find a place to relax, and come back later. This plan came off splendidly.
We came across these four young Sicilian gentlemen who insisted that we take their picture. This seems to be a thing with the teenagers here. They just like to have somebody with a real camera take their picture. They all spoke good English so we chatted for awhile.
Then we found a nice bar with a veranda overlooking the sea and killed about an hour with a glass of wine and an Aperol spritz . About seven we headed back up to the temple for the evening shoot. And there the serendipitous photo gods would have a nice little present waiting for me.
Click the image below for a slide show of more pictures.
