Field Trip to Sicily!!! (Days 5 and 6)

On Sunday (5 Feb.), we went to the ruins at Segesta.

Doric "Temple"

Segesta is fairly close to Selinunte but was the political center of the Elymian people.  To prevent the rulers at Selinunte from taking over, they hoped to form an alliance with the Greeks to help fight against Selinunte.

Pediment of the "temple"

To impress their Greek visitors, they started building a "temple" so that their new allies would be impressed with the great "wealth" of their society.

View of the valley beneath

The structure was never finished and there are several aspects of the construction that prove that it was never meant to be a true temple.  One thing that proves that it was never finished was that the columns were never fluted and a roof was never put on.

Column and lintel support

Another thing that proves that it was never finished or meant to be a temple was that there was no interior room inside the temple or even foundations suggesting that they intended to build an interior room for the temple.  Also, from a practical standpoint, the interior room would have been built and finished before the columns were put in place.

Path leading to the amphitheater

A few kilometers away from the temple was the area in which the residents lived.

Back of the amphitheater

There are remains of a church and a few of the houses along with the amphitheater that looks out onto the valley beneath it.

Valley in front of the amphitheater

Instead of creating a backdrop for the stage of the amphitheater, they just used to existing landscape behind.

Amphitheater

After we left Segesta, we went to the ruins of Gibellina which was a town that was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1968.  An artist was commissioned to make a memorial for the town and created a permanent installment of concrete forms that took the shape of the blocks that the buildings used to occupy.  It was raining really hard, so we didn't get out of the bus...  Then, we visited the new city of Gibellina that was built after the old city was destroyed.

We ended the day with a magnificent group supper at a local restaurant in Castellamare del Golfo.  Our entire class and professors enjoyed a wonderful 6 or 7 course meal-we lost track...

The last day (6 Feb.), we got up and left for the airport to make our journey back to Rome.  Again, my luggage was checked at the gate because there wasn't enough room in the carry-on compartments, but this time I wasn't the only one.  Several of my classmates had to wait for their luggage as well and luckily we were all able to collect our luggage and make our way back.

I'd have to say this was the best field trip I've ever been on!!