I forgot to mention that on our way to Siracusa, I sidetracked a bit in order to show my mother-in-law's fiancé some WWII pillboxes. These are scattered all over the countryside. I have to say that they are ominously creepy. I know that they're just concrete, but I would never want to go inside one. Just being near one gives me the feeling of being trapped. I just imagine those scenes from movies like
Saving Private Ryan or
The Thin Red Line, where GIs are throwing grenades inside or flooding the place with spray from a flame thrower. Still, it is kind of breathtaking to stand on ground that was fought on by Allied forces during Operation Husky way back in 1943.
We took a day trip to Agrigento, to visit the Valley of the Temples (Valle dei Templi). I have been to this sight innumerable times, and every time I find it just as fascinating. The park has several Greek temples in it, in various states of ruin. The highlights, in my opinion, are the temple of Zeus, the temple of Hercules, the temple of Castor and Pollux, and the paleo-christian catacombs. For those who don't know, the Greeks colonized Sicily during the height of their influence in the Mediterranean. Siracusa and Agrigento, for some time, had each had the claim of being the center of the civilized world.
The Temple of Zeus is amazing simply because of its immense size. The scale of construction, as far as moving large pieces of stone, would probably rival some of the feats of pyramid construction. Solid pieces of stone the size of a trailer home were used in its construction. Ironically, the temple, which was built to symbolize the strength of the Akragans (people of Akragas, or Agrigento) and commemorate their successful campaign against the Carthaginians, was destroyed before it could be finished by the Carthaginians. And so ended the glory of Agrigento. I like the temple of Hercules because there has been some restoration, and you can walk along a row of partially rebuilt columns and imagine the view from the inside of the temple, out from the cliff, and down to the Sea that sparkles on the near horizon. The temple of Castor and Pollux is almost non-existant. All that remains, really, is a small corner of the temple, only 4 colums, and a small bit of roof. This has been reconstructed. But with some bits of plaster remaining, you get an idea of what the finished temple may have looked like. There are 2 other temples at the site, in much better condition. But you can't walk through them. The catacombs are eerie, but still mind-boggling. I've only been able to get inside once. And
I didn't have a flashlight, so I couldn't go too far. It may sound a bit macabre, but something about catacombs fascinates me.
The Temple of Hercules The Paleo-Christian Catacombs
Another thing that's great about Agrigento is the Archaeological Museum. Now, you have to be a real fan of history in order to like these museums. There's no great dioramas or anything. Just old artifacts. Daily use kinds of things. There is some art, and some mention of religion and architecture. But a LOT of everyday things. It can get boring. But the thing that I found most amazing was how old some of the things are. Copper Age armor is one that comes to mind. I saw pottery from the 17th century B.C.!!! It puts things into perspective to think that the country where I grew up was established a little over 200 years ago, and this stuff was made by artisans something like 3,600 years before that! Anyway, after taking all that in, we decided to head to the B&B we were staying at for the night. It is an awesome, out of the way place, where I had eaten the best meal of my life. I'll tell you about that later though.
