Caltagirone – Villaggio Mosè

Day 40

We continue our journey towards the Valley of the Temples, which is probably the place with the highest concentration of archaeological remains in Sicily.
The trip has been calm for us, with beautiful landscapes; for Thorsten and Beast, it has been a bit more complicated due to the roads. We woke up early and left because the heat is starting to intensify, and T and Beast prefer to finish the route before they start to roast. The motorcycle suits, once the inner layers for the cold are removed, are still too hot due to the protections they have, and when the day warms up, they end up feeling heavy.
Today's overnight stop is a campsite just two kilometers from the Valley of the Temples. We had planned to stay for two days, but since we arrived early and did the necessary visits, tomorrow we will continue our journey towards the coast where there isn't as much to see.

Once settled in, we took a bus that went directly to the archaeological complex, which is enormous; luckily, we were eager to explore.
The Valley of the Temples, from a distance, is a concatenation of temples, if I may say so, that present themselves to you with a yellowish color that contrasts drastically with the green of the surrounding fields. Most of them are from the peak of ancient Greek splendor, but as you delve a little deeper into this endless walk, you find an entire city, or what remains of it, originally Hellenistic and modified during the Roman period.

Walking through what remains of those civilizations, you find the ruins of the domus, where there are still mural paintings and two-colored mosaic floors, black and white, or polychrome, with geometric, plant, and zoomorphic motifs, in what were once the wealthiest houses.
You also come across the remains of what was the meeting place for the free citizens of the Greek city, of which the area where the participants were seated is still preserved. The portion designated for the speakers has disappeared. Over these remains, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin was built over time.

Civilizations built one on top of the other, but always leaving a trace of what was there before, which is impressive because, despite the time that has passed, you can still glimpse the marks left by those who have faded into time.
The walk, among old olive trees, led us to the Temple of Concordia, the first of many in the circuit. It is, by excellence, the one that stands out the most in the Valley and one of the best preserved from ancient Greece, alongside the Temple of Poseidon in Paestum and the one of Hephaestus in Athens. It has been preserved, according to what we have read, because in the year 597 it was converted into a Christian church after a series of modifications.

At its feet lies the fallen Icarus, lying on his side in front of the main facade, quite well endowed, and representing the young man, son of Daedalus, who flew too close to the sun and ended up losing the wax wings due to its heat, falling into what was called the Icarian Sea, where he died.

The Temple of Juno, Hera for the Greeks, is located at the highest point of the circuit and is, to our pagan eyes, like that of Concordia, but in worse condition. By the time we arrived and having already walked about ten kilometers, we were not in a position to appreciate it too much, although it also has a fascinating history that I won't bore you with.
The return home was on foot. It was no more than two kilometers, but it felt like a world because after the visit we were already exhausted. What a workout the visit was.
The conclusion for today is that we like stones, but in moderation. Today's visit has helped us read a bit more about ancient history, which, when you dedicate time to it at home, is fascinating. If you also discuss it with others who have done it, you discover a lot of new things that you didn't notice during the visit. It's not that we have coordinated, but by following the same route, we keep running into people we've met at other campsites.
For dinner, a pasta salad and not much more. We were both exhausted after the walk.
Good night… I’ll keep you updated 😘