May 2007 - Segesta, Sicily - Majestic Doric Temple and Greek Theater

After leaving Palermo, we headed for the picturesque hills and valleys of Segesta. Our main goal was to see the ruins of the Doric Temple built in the 5th century B.C. The well-preserved temple has 36 doric columns that support the pediments and entablatures.

The Doric temple in the valley behind us was built by the Elymians who were exiles from Troy. They may have migrated to Sicily seeking peace but what they encountered were constant battles with a neighboring village - Selinunte (which we visit in a couple of days).

They built this temple looking up at their city which sat atop Mount Barbaro. We are up on the mountain taking this picture of the temple. From this overlook, we can see ruins of the city of Segesta as well as rolling green hills, cultivated farmland and the barren valley where the Temple lies. There is also a really modern highway crossing the valley but we avoid it in all of our pictures.

As we get to the top of Mount Barbaro, we enter this theater built in the 3rd century B.C. The Segesta theater is a semi-circle with a diameter of 207 ft carved right out of the mountain.

This theater would have been used for performances of Greek style plays where actors wore large masks so that the audience could see them from way up in the stands. Segesta has revived this tradition and now uses the theater to perform Greek plays in the summers.

From their seats, the audience would have not only a view of the stage, but also, a view over the beautiful hills and valleys and maybe even the sea (on a very clear day). Almost all theaters were built to afford the best possible panoramic views for the audience, thus quality of view would determine in which direction the theater faced.

The valley which can be seen from atop the theater is characteristic of the inland northeastern part of Sicily. The land is used to cultivate wheat and other grains. The dry fields are used to make hay and we saw hundreds of bales of hay which, we can only imagine, are used to feed the countless sheep, cows and horses we also saw. Most of the green areas are new crops or, even better, fragrant fields of wild flowers.

We had to stop for a break from the oppressive midday heat. The enormous columns provide great shade.

Okay, so we're not only here to learn. This is a 1-year long vacation. So we took some time to fool around in the ancient temple.

My little Hercules was inspired to hold the columns -- I wouldn't push too hard -- it's a miracle they're still standing.

We walked away in amazement at how this seemingly peaceful spot and proud-looking temple had survived countless sackings by Selinunte, the ravages of time and natural disasters and now stands here in complete isolation.