Monday morning dawned sunny and warm (woohoo !) , so we decided to drive for a bit...
the old tuna cannery along the road from Castellammare to Scopello...
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| tower along the coast near the tuna cannery |
The drive was beautiful to Scopello...66 degrees and sunny...
it was garbage day, so the kitties were going to have to wait....
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| Scopello...quiet now, but jumping in the summer ! |
Along the road, we saw the marble quarries...the entire mountain range along this coast seems to consist of marble...mined for everything from countertops to sculptures...
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| beautiful marble ! |
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| quarries all along the road... |
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| you can just make out a backhoe in the upper right corner...the quarries are huge ! |
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| it's springtime in Sicily...that's marble in the background...not snow ! |
Next stop, the hilltown of Erice...this was the view on the road going up to the top of town...
Erice is in such a spectacular, naturally fortified position high above
the harbor of Trapani (800 meters above sea level), that it is not surprising that the site
has been occupied for millennia. It's perhaps not surprising either, that
with the veil of shifting clouds and air of mystery it was an
important sacred site. There was a temple of Venus here which outlasted the many different civilizations that came and went in the area. The female divinity
to which the shrine was dedicated changed slightly with each culture:
Astarte for the Phoenicians, Aphrodite for the Greeks and Venus for the
Romans. Fertility rites would probably have taken place on or around the
temple site, at the highest point of the town.
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| narrow, winding streets |
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| bell tower of the main church |
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| yes, cars really do drive down these streets ! |
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| not much room for pedestrians ... |
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| a local bar in Erice |
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| entrance to one of the many churches in Erice |
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| decorative detailing in one of the ancient walls |
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| amazing views from Erice |
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A few more shots from the ancient town...
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| this view from the hilltop overlooks some of the salt flats of Trapani |
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| one of the entrances to Erice...Porta Trapani |
A beautiful day, a beautiful drive, and an amazingly beautiful hilltown...how lucky are we ?!
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