Sunday 14th May
Today we intended to visit two UNESCO Word Heritage sites. We set off for a not particularly long initial journey to Segesta. It wasn’t long before we came to a junction where SatNav directed us to turn right and the official signs to Segesta pointed left. Well, you know my feelings about SatNav, so I turned Basil left!
For once SatNav might have known better or, alternatively, the Sicilian authorities are playing a joke on unsuspecting tourists, because the official road was probably the worst road we have ever travelled on in Europe. It was not that the road was particularly narrow or twisty, but rather that it was badly deformed. The tarmac was twisted and cracked as if it had been subject to an earthquake, which perhaps it had. The buckling was so great at times that it was like sleeping policemen had be plonked in the middle of a rural road. There were steep drops where half the road had disappeared down the slope and other areas where the surface had disappeared altogether with the result that just a rocky substrate remained.We made slow progress and eventually arrived at Segesta unscathed.
Segesta was an important settlement for the Elymians, one of the original three tribes of ancient Sicily. The first historical record of the Segesta is 590BC. The site is now renowned for a particularly well preserved Doric temple thought to have been built by an Athenian architect even though this was not a Greek settlement.
The temple is very impressive, set on an isolated hill top surrounded by nature.
There is also a less impressive theatre, which was upgraded by the Romans and some scattered remains of the ancient settlement.
Skye was permitted to enter and we spent two hours or so wandering around the site.
Following this we drove to Sicily’s south coast to the Ancient Greek site of Selinute, where there are more impressive Greek temples, but by the time we arrived we were too late to do the site justice so we found a car park to spend the night (37.5855, 12.8395 Free).
Before retiring we wandered around the surprisingly busy adjacent sea side town and eventually had an excellent meal of fresh fish at a small, highly recommended restaurant right next to our car park.
