Monreale, 2011

The most impressive sight in Palermo is a few miles, and a long bus ride, out of town, the church and abbey cloister of Monreale, created by Roger II in the 12th century. It is Norman in architecture but the interior is the largest and most extravagant (and intact) set of mosaics we have seen. Nothing remaining from the Byzantine world compares, at least in scope and size. The church--which is cathedral-sized--is poorly lit, so the pix do little justice to the mosaics. Most of them are 40-50-60 feet up in the air, on the walls, and are more than life-sized. But they are a delight. Gold and gold-leaf are everywhere.

I was so impressed with the interior, I forgot

to do any decent shots of the exterior; here

are the towers at the bow of the church

And the old bronze west door

Interior

Closer-up; Jesus H. Christ, Pantocrator

Ditto

The major scenes depict episodes, stories

from the Old Testament, life of Jesus, and

lives of saints, in three ever-higher bands all

around the the building; here's Jesus (halo)

healing the leopards (spots)

And dropsy

And the money-changers



Crucifiction of St. Peter

To be continued. I know, I know, I am going to burn in hell,

forever and ever. Amen.

Palermo

We spent three days in Palermo, two of them touring, and another in rest and maintenance (read: doing the wash). Palermo is Sicily's capital, a dense old city of 700,000, in which driving and parking range from difficult to impossible. We stayed at a campground in Sferrocavallo, on the bay, about 15 km from the city center and took buses into town. Even the bus trips were a bit of a challenge. My pedometer got a good work-out in Palermo.

Most of the sights in Palermo are either

Baroque or Norman (yes, Norman, as in

Bayeaux, 1066 and all that; apparently they

had a preference for island kingsdoms;

think: Crusades); anyhow, this is one of

the 4 corners, sort of ground zero on the

Via Vittorio Emmanuel)



Interior of the Baroque and all-marble Teatini

church, nearby the 4 corners

Altar, dome, etc.

Beatiful marble floor throughout



Inlaid

Teatro Bellini, famous opera composer

Fountain at Piazza Pretoria

Palermo Cathedral

Interior

Altar and dome



Interesting floor inlays

Aisle domes

Tower; all in all, it was not one of the most

impressive cathedrals we have seen; but

wait, there's more...

Selinunte: The Very Last Of The Greek Temples (That We Know Of)

Selinunte was founded by the Greeks, like the others, in the 7th century BCE or so, and became another thriving colony. The Carthaginians took over in the 400s, then the Romans in 250 BCE. Then Selinunte more or less passed from history. Forgotten city. So much so that its seven massive temple remains are not named but merely labeled, A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

Me atop a column base at Temple G, which would have been

one of the largest Dorics ever built; whether toppled by the

Carthaginians or earthquakes, or both and more, it is the

most massive rubble we have seen

Ten foot diameter column parts

Temple E, Doric, 5th century, the best preserved



Another view





Across the valley, remains of Temple C, the oldest of the

lot, 6th century; you can see which way the earthquake rolled



Agora/forum; this place has not been excavated

Another ancient main street

Looking north, the beach and modern town

Simple sarcophagus



Roman wall



Carnevale in Sciacca

We spent the whole evening walking the main street, viewing all the incredible floats, singing and dancing groups, singing and dancing in the streets, street food all over and other vendors. The floats were the largest and most intricate I have ever seen, generally 4-5 stories tall, and laden with religious/moralistic symbolism beyond us. One other thing was striking, and that was that it was a family event, small kids all over the place, all in costume, just as throughout the days before. (We were beginning to conclude that Sicilian little boys just dressed like Batman or a pirate or cowboy all the time...). We dined at a pizzaria, watching all the excitement process by, then dove back into it. By ten or so we were tired enough to hike back down the hill to the camper stop. But we were back up at 2:30AM to watch the concluding fireworks. These people really know how to party. Check it out at http://www.carnevaledisciacca.it/

Wardrobe malfunction

Huh?

2:30 in the AM, seriously, and only then did the din subside

Sciacca the next morning; probably everyone slept in...

Sciacca

From Agrigento we drove on, further west, generally close to the coast, to the town of Sciacca. Sciacca is not on the major tourist destination lists, but it was listed as having a "camper stop," that is, a designated parking area for motorhomes, something we have seen rather little of in recent months. We had only GPS coordinates. Getting into town we found a relative hurricane of activity, police, detours, monstrous traffic, all kinds of pedestrians all over, and were hustled down little winding alleys to the port area. It's evidently a major fishing town with a big port. Anyhow, after a little pedestrian reconnaissance of our own and discussion with some other campers, we found our way to a huge parking area with 30 or more motorhomes already set up. Nice, we thought. We'll stay here. But by this time it was also apparent that all the hubbub was about Sciacca's Carnevale--one of Sicily's two largest such events--Mardi Gras, as we Americans know it. Vicki especially enjoys folk happenings, and we spent the whole evening absorbing this rather incredible event.

Happpily camped, by the great sea wall, Sciacca in the

background

Looking across the marina toward sunset

Vicki on the grand staircase from the port up

to the town center

Looking back at our camp site...and anything but a quiet

evening ahead...