The remote temples of Selinunte on the southeastern coast of Sicily lay in ruins except for this one which was reconstructed in 1958.
At the time of my late afternoon visit many starlings were flying around the restored temple darting in and out of the homes they had made between the slabs of rock that make up the ancient pillars. This was one of the most remote archeological sites in Sicily and so I ventured an unobserved climb to the inner sanctuary's top level.
"Selinunte was founded in the mid-7C by people from the east coast city of Megara Hyblaea."
"Temple G, probably dedicated to Apollo, was one of the largest in the ancient world. It was over 100 meters long; its columns were built of blocks each weighing several tons."
Look carefully at the highlighted box in the photo to the right: what you see is my baseball cap resting on one of the several blocks used to construct a single column of this enormous temple. With all the pieces laying in ruins, it required a feat of imagination to visualize how absolutely awesome this temple must have once looked when standing intact. I day-dreamed about someday finding the funds necessary to reconstruct this magnificent testament to Apollo's power.
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