Selinunte, Sicily Italy,

Classical Greek city rising out from the sand.

The Ancient Greek Classical city of Selinous, modern day Selinunte is on the south-west coast of Sicily in the heart of the Mediterranean.

Immigrants from the Greek settlement of Megara Hyblaea (Sicily East Coast) founded Selinous in the 7th century BCE. They named it after the wild celery that once was abundant there. Selinous prosperity and prestige grew in the next few centuries following its foundation and become exceedingly affluent and glorious from exporting wine, cereals, olive oil and ceramic artefacts. 

Admired and envied throughout the Mediterranean, Selinous was a target for invaders. On a fateful day in 409BCE, 100,000 soldiers of the Carthaginian army attacked and almost destroyed the city. Of the 25,000 inhabitants, 16,000 were butchered, and another 7000 were enslaved. Any that survived escaped to the ancient Greek city of Akragas (Agrigento). 

Finally abandoned around 250BCE, the forces of nature then buried Selinous as windblown sand and earth covered the city.

A result of Selinous being mostly buried and forgotten was that the city was frozen in time, similar to the fate of Pompeii.

View of palm trees and the blue waters of the Mediterranean sea from the evocative ruins of the archeological site at Selinunte. Sicily. Italy.

Modern excavations have been revealing, and it is being regarded as the most complete preservation of an Ancient Greek classical city. 

Boosting several Doric Greek temples all identified by a letter, Selinunte archaeological park is the largest in Europe and one of its most beautifully located.

Two highlights being Temple E, which is one of the most complete Greek temples in the world and the massive ruins of unfinished 6th BCE Temple G, which would have been the fourth largest temple ever built in the ancient Greek world. 

Nearby Ancient Selinous is Cave di Cusa which was the ancient quarry used to provide masonry for the Temples. The quarry includes many abandoned colossal cylindrical drum blocks still waiting for two thousand years to be transported to the ancient city. 

Click to view the complete Selinunte image gallery.

All images, text and content are copyright Steven Sklifas.

Bosra, Syria.

Ancient Theatre of Dreams.

In the south-east of Syria, the ancient Roman city of Bosra was briefly a Nabatean capital before becoming the prosperous and powerful capital of the Roman province of Syria.

Their black basalt usage, which is found throughout the area known as the Horan region of Syria, distinguishes the masonry of the buildings and ruins.

Several delightful Roman ruins are found within the old city, including the monumental ancient Roman theatre which is one of the largest and best preserved in the Mediterranean. The famous theatre was built in the second century AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan who was emperor from 98 to 117 AD.

Bosra. Syria. View along the north-south cardo with its cobblestone surface and parallel row of columns lining the ancient street.

The colossal scaenae frons or stage backdrop of the theatre was three stories high and adorned with ornate fine Corinthian columns, statues, and sculptured friezes. Unfortunately, only the lower level survives today. Its cavea, which is virtually intact, comprises 37 tiers of seating that could accommodate an audience of 15,000 spectators.

The Ancient city of Bosra is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. I have also included a few images of the Roman theatre found in the ancient city of Philippopolis- Modern Shahba. The ancient theatre is small, however it is one of the best preserved in Syria. Shahba is about 90 kilometres southeast of Damascus.

Click to view the complete Bosra image gallery.

All images, text and content are copyright Steven Sklifas.

Benghazi, Libya.

Commonwealth war graves cemetery

The Commonwealth war graves cemetery located at the city of Benghazi, Eastern Libya, is the last resting place of over 1000 commonwealth servicemen who gave their lives in the North African desert wars of British Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery and German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel during World War 2. 

“In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons,”

Herodotus – Greek Historian 484 BC – 409 BC.

Buried and commemorated at the cemetery are Australian, British, Greek, Indian, Jewish, Libyan, Norwegian, South African and Sudanese servicemen. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) built and continues to maintain the cemetery.

Benghazi. Cyrenaica. Libya. View of the Commonwealth war graves cemetery at Benghazi.

Note: I visited Libya just before the Libyan civil war in 2011, a war which has left Libya in a complete state of lawlessness and terror. Many thousands of lives have died, and according to Amnesty International, it is estimated that almost a million people across Libya need humanitarian aid. 

Click to view the complete Benghazi War Cemetery image galley

All images, text and content are copyright Steven Sklifas.

Paestum, Italy.

Majestic Ancient Greek Temples.

Originally named Poseidonia, in honour of the Greek Sea God Poseidon, Paestum was founded in the 7th century BC by Ancient Greek colonists from the city of Sybaris which was situated in the current Gulf of Taranto in southern Italy.

Its location was chosen for its fresh water supply and rich fertile plain, ideal for agriculture. Its site also allowed for excellent land access through the Lucanian hills to the seaport. The city became wealthy enough to mint its own coins and became an important centre of Magna Graecia–Greek colonisation in Italy.

After a few hundred years, the city was occupied by the indigenous Lucanians and then by the Romans in the third century BC. Paestum succumbed to malaria after the fall of Rome and was eventually abandoned in the late 9th century.

Paestum was a must see by any traveller engaged in the famous Grand tour- 17th to early 19th-century.

For nearly 1000 years, Paestum and its grand majestic temples were overgrown by tangled vegetation and partially submerged in swampland until the mid-18th century, when the ancient site was rediscovered by road crews. 

The three ancient Greek Doric temples of Paestum (Hera, Hera II and Athena) are ranked amongst the best preserved Greek Temples in the world.

Paestum. Campania. Italy. The cover panel mural painting from the Tomb of the Diver (Tomba del Tuffatore) from the Tempa del Prete necropolis. This panel, which was the tomb lid, shows a naked youth executing a prefect dive into a blue sea. The dive is thought to symbolize the passage from life to the death.

The museum house the extraordinary cycle of mural paintings from the 5th century BC Tomb of Diver, which are the only type of its kind in the world and are the only example of Greek wall painting with figured scenes from the Archaic, or Classical periods to survive in their entirety.

Paestum is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Click to view the complete Paestum image gallery

All images, text and content are copyright Steven Sklifas.

Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia.

Dazzling blue and white haven

The extremely photogenic and popular artist’s village of Sidi Bou Said is located 20 Kilometres north of Tunis, capital of Tunisia.

Positioned on a steep cliff top overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Sidi Bou Said was originally known as the village of Jabal el-Menaris.

The town was renamed Sidi Bou Said to honour of Abu Said Ibn Khalaf Yahya al-Tamimi al-Beji a 13th century Sufi Saint who settled here on his return journey from his pilgrimage to Mecca.

The 19th century French baron Rudolph d’Erlanger was responsible for the distinctive blue and white scheme in the village which is reminiscent of a Cycladic Greek island with its whitewashed cubical homes with blue shutters and colourful doors and cobbled and narrow alleyways overflowing with bougainvillea.

Sidi Bou Said. Tunisia. View of a blue door with studded ornamentation in the clifftop village of Sidi Bou Said.

Click to view the complete Sidi Bou Said image gallery.

All images, text and content are copyright Steven Sklifas.