Experience Sicily

Tag: archeologia

  • Night Vision

    One of my most memorable evenings in Sicily has been just after it rained and I was on my own, exploring Ortigia. The historic center glistened, and the duomo was lit up, accentuating its monumental glory.

  • Bust of Demeter from Selinunte

    Terracotta bust of the goddess Demeter from the 4th century B.C.E., from the eastern hill acropolis of Selinunte, now housed in Palermo’s Museo Salinas

  • Romans and Elephants

    Scholars think this elephant is pretty cool. Reason being is that it shows the elephant moving between two ships; in other words, the moving of African animals by Romans to Rome for gladiatorial games, through Sicily. We know this because this image, which we’ll see on Day 5 of our May 2018 Myths & Mysteries…

  • ‘Tis His Season

    The current grape harvest season makes me think of Dionysus (The Romans called the God of wine Bacchus.). This is a terracotta bowl fragment featuring a relief of Dionysus, god of wine, vegetation, theater, and ecstasy, from Morgantina, an ancient Greek town in Sicily (3rd to 1st century B.C.E.).

  • Ortigia’s Ancient Temples

    One could argue that the Parco Archeologico della Neapolis in Siracusa (The archaeological park dedicated to the “New City” in Syracuse) often steels the thunder from the ancient ruins travelers can find in the “old city,” or Ortigia, pictured. Ortigia, the ancient island center of Siracusa, has been occupied by modern civilizations since the 8th…

  • Ephesus Is Closer Than You Think

    Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and the moon, was represented differently according to the locality of her cult. This terracotta statuette from the 4th century B.C.E., was found in the Acradina quarter of Siracusa in 1967; however, its representation of the divinity is more akin to the Ephesian Artemis…

  • Dress Like A Goddess

    These terracotta figurines from the 3rd and 4th centuries B.C.E. are goddesses. Scholars know they are deities because they are wearing a polos. A polos is a headdress that collects the woman’s hair into a column of sorts, which prompts her hair upward and then to cascade from the top. Images of mortal women from…

  • Calatafimi Segesta Festival

    The 50th Anniversary of the Calatafimi Segesta Festival “Dionisiache” is happening now through September 3. This breathtaking 3rd century B.C. amphitheater on top of Monte Bàrbaro is hosting everything from ancient Greek works like Antigone and new plays such as Shakespeare in Brexit to symphony concerts and jazz. Just add cushions and it’s showtime!

  • Demeter’s Joy: Summer 

    Happy Summer! I present to you the magnificent Goddess of Morgantina, in celebration of the solstice. Scholars don’t know if she represents Aphrodite, Demeter, Persephone, or Hera. But her size (2.20-2.25 meters high), indicates that it was certainly a mystery cult statue of great importance. Personally, I believe that she is Persephone because her right…