Mt. Etna, Taormina and Aggregento, Sicily

[aster]

Wow, this valley on the way to Piazza Armerina is amazing. Newly harvested fields and hills to keep the road trip fresh for the eyes.

Romans did a wonderful documentation with their mosaic techniques. I also spend time observing the mosaics, since they are firsthand info from the Romans as they saw their own lives and era.

Thanks for sharing, Sury.
Yildiz

[sury]

Few more...

[aster]

Those samples are very nice, Sury.
Very fine mosaic art. I also like the interior of the building.

Thanks for sharing.
Yildiz

[sury]

Thank you Yildiz.

This hall is entirely covered in the mosaic and unfortunately there was no way one could take the pano of the entire length.
It was quite long (perhaps 30M in length and 5M in width).



More popular murals of the place. Noteworthy observations. All the characters are female. Tour guide also claims these the origins of
the bikini swimwear.

[ValeryD]

Italy has a very positive effect on Sury!
Nice again !

[aster]

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Sea, ships, animals, humans trading at the port …. Daily commerce depictions that are related to sea trade and women in sports…
And, I love that circular entrance. They display a very active human force in everyday activities.

Thanks for sharing. All are very nice captures.
Yildiz

[sury]

Valery, Thank you. Yes, indeed. I have still another 4 days left in that journey followed by a trip to New Orleans and Death Valley, National Park.

Yildiz, that is a beautiful place. It was an epitome of luxury at that time and it was not even a palace, "just" a villa.

The town of Armerina. The next shots show the human ingenuity of keeping a place traditionally intact while introducing modern convenience. Please note the white basket's progression in the following three pictures. A simple rope and pulley system. There is a lady at the very top floor balcony hauling the day's purchase (perhaps) rather than carry it to the top.

[aster]

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Yes, I can see how beautiful a villa it is. I love that they used the durable mosaic technique to both embellish and depict their true story. Pictures are more powerful than words at such times when papers would not have stood the test of time or the harsh conditions of historical events or devastations.

Sury, after seeing a volcano come alive on New Zealand's White Island recently, I'm very glad that the spewing old legend Etna was very quite and benign all throughout your visit to the volcano.

By the way, the method of the lady is still used in many parts of the Mediterranean; saves time and human power.

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz

[sury]

Yildiz,
Indeed. As I mentioned earlier, it was exhilarating and yet scary to be that close to the top where only a month ago there was an eruption. Few more of the town.





Snack at a local wine store.

[aster]

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What a photogenic and neat town! I love the uniformity of the town's buildings. No wonder painters used to love to paint Italian landscapes washed under the region's sun rays.

Hmm, that plate's contents look dangerously appetizing but probably were delicious.

Thanks for sharing, Sury.
Yildiz

[sury]

Indeed Yildiz. The entire trip has been like that. Expansive vistas, beautiful towns, and wonderful people. We making that trip celebrating friendship and life.

Moving on to Aggregento. I found a different spelling which may be correct one. Agrigento.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrigento





The town of Agrigento from the Valley of Temples. Though valley is a misnomer, since the ruins are on top a ridge.

[aster]

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Neat to sea some classical temple ruins and they are beautiful in an ancient way. The erosion of stone/marble material has been truly detrimental apparently. And, no protection to preserve the ruins better for posterity sadly.
The pano of the valley is very good and definitely captures a typical Italian valley, again showered with that abundant sunlight. Lovely…

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz

[sury]

One of the interesting things I learned was that Romans made statues without heads en masse and would attach a head
of the person who requested a statue. Whereas Greeks always had statues with head included made so there was to "modular"
design.

[aster]

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Hi, Sury;
Nice workarounds with technology and serial manufacturing of statues or the structural elements. Fun to hear that there was a tradesman's approach to statues and probably there was quite the demand for this approach.
The second photo maybe is of how they transferred/transported some of the huge mason pieces from the quarries. (?) If so, I like the practicality.

Thanks for sharing, Sury.
Yildiz

[sury]

Yildiz,
Another piece of trivia that perhaps all know it. Romans use to fix a "broken" nose on those statues with wax (cere).
So if the nose is genuine it was sincere (without wax) hence the word sincere meaning truthful/honest.
The landscapes are so beautiful, combined with my leaning towards panos, so what do you expect?



The temple of Minerva, long away from its glorious days lying in forlorn.


The dreaded Trebuchet, recreated of course.