Mazara del Vallo to Agrigento

Mazara del Vallo is a small town with an old Arab population, you are no more than 110 Km from the coast of the Magreb in North Africa and Arabic or Saracen influences are visible, despite the Greek then Roman and later heavy Norman and then Spanish influences. Mazara has a Kasbah like any Magreb town and a Turkish quarter though the Turks or Ottoman are long gone. Again we visited the town and had some pretty good food, we have been eating a lot of seafood on this trip. Mazara was also the site of the First Norman Parliament under Count Ruggero (Roger) and has a long association with the Spanish Crown and the Court of Aragon. Saint-Vito is the patron of Mazara and a majestic cathedral is dedicated to him. 

Cathedral of Mazara del Vallo, first built as a Norman church and then modified by the Aragonese

Sicilian Baroque see the Angels lifting the curtain of the dais to reveal Christ

While looking at the architecture I could not help think that I could be in Mexico or Spain, the layout of the town, its public squares and its buildings have that flavour. The clue of the visit to Mazara is to see the Satiro, this statue was discovered in 1995 by a group of fishermen who caught it in their nets. The Satiro is a rare bronze statue from antiquity, it is very well conserved given its great age (2700 years old) and depicts a satyr in ecstasy both sexual and from drinking too much wine during a celebration to Dionysius, the God of Wine. Satyrs were always spirits who were either evil connected with Hades or bringer of merriment and connected with Dionysius. This Satiro is an original statue but no one knows exactly where it comes from or how it got to the bottom of the sea, there are no less than 5 hypothesis presented by different archaeologists on this question.  The body is not masculine as in other Greek statues, there is a very feminine softness and the face has the features of Venus, this is part of the cult of Dionysius, a certain ambivalence, nothing is clear, probably due to the intoxication of its participants.

 Museum of the Satiro housed in the ex-Church of Saint Egidio built like a muslim mosque.

We then drove on to Agrigento to see the Valley of the Temples a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Magnificent Doric style temples on the original site of the city of Akragas or Agrigento.

The approach to Agrigento through Porto Empedocle on SS115 can be very disappointing, it is a heavy industrial area, very ugly and even sinister looking in parts, with lots of half finished buildings. Agrigento is not a wealthy city, it lives from agriculture and seasonal tourism. It is difficult to understand who can afford to buy all the luxury products in the high end shops on Via Atenea. Maybe it is best not to ask any questions.

We stayed at an excellent B&B Marchese Sala on Via Atenea, the owner was a delightful fellow and we had a very pleasant stay. The purpose of our visit to Agrigento was to see the Temples and we had one of those WOW! moments.  

Speaking of driving in Sicily, it is a lot like driving in Cairo, Egypt or driving in a small village where everyone thinks they are alone on the road or pedestrian think they are merely crossing their garden. NO ONE looks before doing anything, I have had quite a few near misses with drivers pulling into traffic with no warning or cutting you off or stopping in the middle of the road to look at something. Pedestrians simply walk right into traffic without looking, you have to avoid them, that's your job.  We also got quite a few odd looks because our plates are not like others in the region. People ask, where are you from, funny licence plate. Sicily is still a small place in many ways.