We
anchored out off the small town of San Leone for a couple of days. While we were there, we caught the
local bus to the ancient ruins of Agrigento that are built up the hill on a
bluff that has a commanding view of the sea below. At one time, this was the fourth largest city in the known
world. It started out around 581
BC as a Greek settlement that quickly grew to a population of over 200,000
people. The Greek temples survived
as the population was conquered by a stream of armies that wanted the wealth of
the city for their own.
Certainly
the crown jewel of Agrigento is the ochre colored temple of Hera. This is one of the extremely rare
temples that has somehow survived the test of time to remain relatively in
tact. There are several reasons
why this temple has survived when so many others have not. The principle reason lies below the
surface of the earth. Evidently
this temple is built on hard rock that is floating on a layer of soft clay that
acts as a shock absorber, cushioning it from destructive earthquakes. Whether Greek engineers understood this
or not is still up to debate. Most
modern scientists however think that there is a strong likelihood that they
did. It is a beautiful temple with
tall stone columns surrounding it. There are a few other temples scattered
around, but none are as complete or as impressive.
What
has been added to the site is a beautiful sculpture of a fallen angel done in
2011 by Polish sculpture Igor Mitoraj. It is a giant cast
bronze work that is reminiscent of the kind of work done by the Greeks. This magnificent angle has broken off
limbs like so many other sculptures of antiquity and lies on it’s side as if it
has fallen from a grand pedestal.
The sculpture has grandeur and heroic proportions that even the Greeks
would have appreciated.
No comments:
Post a Comment