Experience Sicily

Tag: ancient greece

  • Pack Your Toga

    In May 2016, during our Experience Sicily with Chef Melissa Muller tour, we’ll see a performance of an ancient Greek play at the 5th-century-BC Teatro Greco in Siracusa. This photo is from last summer’s performance of The Suppliants by Aeschylus. It was breathtaking!

  • Ancient Acoustics

    From the top of Monte Barbaro, the seats of the amphitheater at Segesta face the sea and hills in the distance. The acoustics from the orchestra, where I’m standing, are outstanding, something I proved when I sang to everyone visiting the site with me that day!

  • Selinunte Temple

    The Doric-style Temple “E” at the ancient Greek site of Selinunte was completed between 490 and 480 BC. Recent research reveals that it was probably dedicated to the goddess Hera, the protectress of weddings, engaged couples, and pregnant women.

  • Corinthian Leaves

    These columns from the Baroque facade of the Duomo on Ortigia are in the Corinthian architectural style for a reason. The city of Siracusa, with Ortigia Island as its jewel, was founded in 734 BC as a colony of Corinth, Greece. Over the subsequent centuries, Siracusa became the most important city of Magna Grecia. Corinthian…

  • Temple of Harmony

    The magnificent Temple of Concordia is named for a Latin inscription that was found on a dedication marker unearthed in the vicinity of the Valley of the Temples archaeological site–i.e., a marker not associated with the temple; however spirited archaeologists took the text on the marker that said something to the effect of “dedicated to…

  • Temple Interrupted

    Thought to have been built by a Elymian-Sicilian architect who was influenced by Greek colleagues, this Doric temple at Segesta was constructed between 430 and 420 BC. Scholars believe that it never had a roof put on its 36 limestone columns–perhaps the reason why it is so well-preserved. Very little is understood about for what…

  • Tonight I Saw the Maidens

    Dreams do come true! My cousin Evelina was right (She usually is!). Today I was able to be in Siracusa to see (and hear) “Le Supplici,” or “The Suppliant Maidens” by Aeschylus. Pictured is a scene from the show. The Suppliant Maidens premiered around 470 BC in Ancient Greece. The themes however, are so timely…

  • Today’s Trip Highlight: Agrakas’ Valley of the Temples

    This is a scene I was thrilled to see again today! The four remaining columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, built in the 5th century BC and reconstructed in the 19th century. We walked the full 2 kilometers of Valley of the Temples that sits on a ridge with sweeping views of the…

  • Reclaimed is Ancient History in Siracusa

    This is one of the more fascinating sites in Sicily: The Duomo of Siracusa. Look carefully–it’s not a mistake. You can see the ancient Doric-style columns of an ancient Temple of Athena, built in the 5th century BC. During the Byzantine age (in the 7th century), the temple’s structure was adopted and used as the…