We make a quick swing by the airport on our way out of Palermo this morning to collect baggage misplaced by airlines. What was lost has now been found! Our first stop today is the ancient Greek city of Selinunte on the South-Western Coast of Sicily. You arrive at the site, and have no idea what is there until you pass through a cut in a hill, turn a corner, and then have your breath taken away by the sight of the reconstructed Temple of Hera, sitting on this sunny April day in a field of wildflowers.
The many temples at the site were utterly destroyed by a massive earthquake, but we can appreciate their original appearance now thanks to this one having been painstakingly put back together in the 1950’s.
The largest temple at Selinunte was three times the size of the Temple of Hera, and it is now merely a rubble of toppled columns wherein mysterious creatures lurk.
We have a delightful lunch at the seashore and then continue to Agrigento to see the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples). This is actually a misnomer as the site is located on a ridge outside the town of Agrigento, but one feels as though you are walking through a valley with the town towering overhead on one side (the sea on the other).
The Temple of Concordia is ranked among the best examples of the edifices of Greek civilization today because it is so well preserved.
