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| These exquisite tapestries depict such scenes as the capture of Jerusalem and the war fought by Titus against the Jews in a.d. 66. The tapestries are kept in darkened rooms to avoid damage. Below you can read the history of the tapestries. They are so detailed you would think they were paintings. You can get a better feel for the detailing if you double click on one of the pictures, then you can scroll through them at the bottom of the page. |
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| Some close up shots of the tapestries |
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| ERICE - Welcome to la citta - beautiful archways and a town of narrow cobblestone streets. Erice is surrounded by Elymian Punic walls laid out by the Eymians around 1200 B.C.!!!!! It is a lovely place to spend a day taking in the incomparable views. On a clear day they say you can see west to the Egadi Islands, east to Mt Etna and south to Africa glimpsing towards Tunsia. The cool cloud that descends on the city is known as the "Veil of Venus" because Erice's highest point, the Castello di Venere ( Castle of Venus) is where the temple of the Roman goddess of love once stood and seeing the city's towers and craggy rocks shrouded in a hazy blanket of gray is quite magical. | THE WORLDS OLDEST PROFESSION, SANCTIFIED -Besides conquering the world, the Romans were known for all sorts of debaucheries. As they worshiped the goddess Venus from the temple, Romans flocked to the temple to offer young girls as holy slaves to the temple in gratitude of fulfilled vows. Barely pubescent, these girls underwent boot camp in the art of all things physically pleasurable. When their stances of holy slaves ended at the ripe age of 21, their careers and reputations where far from tarnished. Not only did they retire with a princely sum of money, they were the most desired bachelorettes in town. And like Venus they were not stick thin: A diet of milk and honey added to their voluptuous allure. |
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| Chiesa Matrice and the campanile (bell tower ) |
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| View from Castello Pepoli |
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| View from the city gardens |
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| Scenery from the cable car which takes you up 2400 feet to Erice |
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| Typical narrow street but I want to know who laid down all these stones?? |
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| Another finely crafted archway. |
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| With Erice lurking above the clouds "The famous Veil of Venus" rolls in as the sun sets. |
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| Night time in la citta |
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| Piazza Umberto - no, there were no Umberto's Pizzerias here!! |
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| SELINUNTE - These Doric temples are so ancient that they are referred to by letter. This is Temple E which was dedicated to Juno. Built around 485 b.c. it has a staggering 68 columns. The area looks out to the sea and strolling along the various ruins it's easy to gain an impression of how large and important the city Selinunte was at its height before Hannibal destroyed it in 409 b.c. |
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| Looking across from Temple E you can see the Acropolis which is enclosed within defensive walls and was built from the 6 th century b.c. to the 5 th centruy b.c. The Acropolis was the site of the most important public and religious buildings, and was also the residence of the town's aristocrats. The temple in the background was built in 6th century b.c. and was probably dedicated to Hercules or Apollo. |
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| You can see the outlines of stores that once existed in the town. Maybe this was a real estate office :-) since the land overlooked the sea!!! |
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| SALT MARSHES - an interesting business just outside of Marsala is the harvesting of salt. When the Carthaginians first landed in the area they understood the favorable natural and metorological conditions offered and set about to create basins from which to harvest salt. Exploiting the high level of salinity in the seawater and the wind and sun that contribute to the evaporation process, water is pumped into pans. Over several months the water is left to evaporate and reaches a sluggish consistency. The salt is then raked and harvested. Once completely dry the salt is cleaned and packed. The history and technique has been preserved for centuries. These salt pans have been in use since antiquity and the windmills used to harvest it are centuries old. If you double click on the picture you can see several windmills in the background. |
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| SEGESTA - Tempio di Segesta is a single amazing temple in a lonely field. Although half the size of Selinunte it is one of the best preserved ancient Doric temples in the world and the only freestanding limestone temple in all of Sicily which was built in the 5th centruy b.c. The temples rural setting also means this is a very pretty spot. The temple is part of the ruined city of Segesta. You can see the valley on the far right, |
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| The view from Tempo di Segesta. |
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| THE TASTING ROOM - it was as elegant as it looks here. |
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| Cantine Florio- The Florio name remains one of the largest and most recognizable in Marsala wine production. This wealthy family also owned one of the first tuna canneries of the Egadi Islands, as well as a large fishing vessel that was one of the first to take tuna from Marsala across the Atlantic to New York. |
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| Our tour guide stands in front of a barrel which contains 16,000 liters of Marsala wine!! Here you have a look at the actual wine cellars that are lined with limestone floors which is a natural way to absorb humidity from the air. |
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| We were given 3 types of Marsala wine. They varied in ages from a 15 year old dry wine to a 6 year old semi dry and the sweetest being 2 years old. The strongest wine on the left was tasted with a piece of parmigiana cheese, the second with gorgonzola cheese on toast and lastly the one that Americans are familiar (which is sweetest and youngest ), with a piece of biscotti. |
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| The tour ends with the latest and newly designed show room. Bellissimo. |
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| Teatro Massimo - is an iconic Palermo landmark. This grand neoclassical opera house took over 20 years to build. The closing scene of The Godfather III was filmed here. |
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| Chiesa Capitalare di San Cataldo - This 12 th century church in Arab- Norman style is one of Palermo's most striking buildings. |
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| Fontana Pretoria - this central attraction is a huge and ornate fountain which has flagrant nudity of provocative nymphs which the next door church prudishly dubbed it the Fountain of Shame. |
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| Restaurant " Bye Bye Blues" despite its name it serves very traditional Sicilian Food. I had a rolled up white fish stuffed with breadcrumbs, pine nuts and zest from both an orange and lemon to give it a refreshing taste. |
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| For dessert I had pineapple carpaccio with a lemon cream on top. Delizioso !!! |
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| Palazzo dei Normanni/Cappella Palatina - Here Frederick II founded the Schola Poetica Siciliana, which marked the birth of Italian literature. The foundations of the palace date back to the Punic times in the 8th centruy b.c.. In the 9th century the Arabs built the palace for their emirs, and later under Norman domination it was eventually named Norman Palace. |
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| Cappella Palatina - represents the pinnacle of Arab- Norman collective genius and was built by Roger II in 1135. Intended as his private house of worship, the church is dedicated to St Peter and is adorned with Byzantine mosaics. |
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| The royal coach. |
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| Salon d'Ercole - one flight up are the Royal Apartments. This is currently the chamber of the Sicilian parliament. |
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| Agrigento- Valle dei Templi ( Valley of the Temples) are ancient Greek ruins with the Tempio della Concordia as one of the best preserved Greek temples in the world. To see its impressive structure and its towering columns alone makes this trip to the city worth while. In later years - 6th century a.d. - this structure was transformed into a Christian church. |
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| The Temple of Juno erected sometime in 5th century b.c. has many of its Doric columns restored. In front is a sacrificial altar. |
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| Piazza Armerina -is where you can see the most magnificent mosaics in all of western Europe. The ruins of this Roman Villa, the Villa Romana del Casale, are admired for their preservation and masterful craftsmanship. This villa is one of the largest dwellings of its kind. which is survived from the days of the Romans. Its 40 rooms are carpeted with over 120,000 sq ft of some of the greatest mosaics in western Europe. The villa's construction was at the beginning of the 4th century a.d. Below are pictures of some of the rooms which include a long hallway as well as a bedroom. |
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| Typical countryside of Sicily. It is one of the prettiest islands I have every visited. Either along the coastline or driving internally and seeing the farms and mountains throughout |
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| NOTO -This town has rich looking, honey colored buildings which are some of the most captivating on the island. The little town has been dubbed the "Stone Garden" because of its sheer beauty and is a Unesco World Heritage site. Noto is a wonderful example of baroque town planning since its churches, palazzi, and civic buildings were constructed after an earthquake hit the region in 1693. Above is the graceful town hall, Palazzo Ducezio |
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| Above is is a broad flight of steps that leads to the Duomo which was completed in 1776. |
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| SYRACUSE Teatro Greco - this Greek Theater was one of the great theaters of classical times. Hewn from rock in the 5th century b.c., today the Italian Institute of Ancient Drama presents classical plays by Euripedes and Sophocles which means the show hasn't changed much in 2,000 years |
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| The Anfiteatro Romano was created at the time of Augustus. Unlike the Greek theater with its classical plays, the Roman theater tended towards gustier fare. Gladiators faced each other with daggers, and slaves were whipped into the center to do battle with wild beasts. |
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| ORTYGIA ISLAND - is an island of temples. castles, plazzi, churches and markets. |
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| A glimpse of Italian water polo - I was told the eye- talians don't like to get their feet wet so they play in kayaks!!! |
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| IL Duomo - is the oldest church in Europe. This cathedral incorporates architectural fragments of a 5th century b.c. temple honoring Athena. Twenty- six of the temples Doric columns are still in place. In the late 1600's. an earthquake caused the cathedral facade to collapse and in the 18th century the structure was rebuilt in baroque style |
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| Piazza del Duomo - one of the most attractive squares in Italy |
