G&B 2017: Selinunte & Mazara Del Vallo, Sicily

Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble

Selinunte and an afternoon
in the port town of Mazara del Vallo

Wednesday 17th May 2017

We were unable to enter the port of Mazara del Vallo at 9.00pm last night, as planned, because the port was "too busy". Early this morning, however and with no obvious signs that any vessels had departed recently, we were able to enter the busy port... well, not that busy, it would appear.

Our ship is twice as long as the pier, which required some tricky-looking maneouvres involving this small vessel. We wondered if this was the real reason why we weren't allowed into the port after dark last night.

Not too many cruise ships stop here, judging by the interest that was taken in us and the basic security facilites.

We went on the morning excursion to Selinunte, which was an ancient Greek city.

The archaeological site covers approximately 40 hectares. Initially we scoffed at the idea of using the electric buggies to get around it, but we soon realised that it was the only way to see the highlights in the time that we had available.

Our first stop was the East Hill which had three temples. This is the partially reconstructed Temple E.

Temple E is also called the Temple of Hera.

We asked Neil to take a photo of us using Bruce's phone, which he did before taking a selfie for us!

Inside Temple E

Looking out towards Temples F and G

A chance encounter with a good friend, Susan who was doing a land-based tour around Sicily.

In the excitement of meeting Susan (somewhere between Temple F and Temple G), we lost track slightly of which temple was which! We think this is the larger Temple G.

Back on the buggy, we headed towards the Acropolis, seen here in the distance.

The reconstructed columns of Temple C can be seen clearly here.

There are a number of significant archealogical treasures at the acropolis, but much of it just looks like a pile of rubble!

Caper bush, with its edible flower buds (capers) and pretty flowers.

It was a hot day and this granita salesman did a good trade from our group.

Our onboard lecturer, George, with our lovely cruise director, Neil.

We were taken back to the ship for lunch. Afterwards, we went into the town of Mazara del Vallo to explore it for ourselves.

The Museum of the Dancing Satyr, located in the church of S. Egidio, was recommended as one of the highlights, so we went there first.

The Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo is a Greek bronze statue. The leg and the torso was recovered separately in 1997 and 1998 respectively in the nets of the same local fishing boat. We thought it was hauntingly beautiful.

The town was eerily quiet. We assumed that things would liven up later, but we didn't have time to wait for that, so we just walked around and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Jesuit College