Greeks and Romans

You won’t be surprised to learn that Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country. There are 53 in total and seven of those are here in Sicily. (China is next on that list with 52). The region is rich in history and the legacies of Greek colonisation and Roman control are especially apparent.

Timeline: Greeks and Romans in Sicily

To understand the impact of these two great powers it might be helpful to have a rough timeline of their presence in Sicily, so here’s one we prepared earlier. (It’s basic but gives the idea).

The Greeks and, later, the Romans changed the course of Sicilian history and, in doing so, helped shape the region’s future.

The 'Valley of the Temples' was founded by Greek colonists around 580 BC

The Temple of Concordia (430 BC) is one of the best preserved structures on the site

The 'Valley of the Temples' is actually a misnomer; the site is located on a plateau between two rivers overlooking the Mediterranean Sea

It's close to the modern city of Agrigento (Akragas)

Extending over 1300 hectares, it's thought up to 500,000 people lived here

Compare that to the number of visitors who come to the site - about 870,000 each year

While the Greeks in Agrigento were constructing magnificent temples, in Syracuse they were constructing the 'Teatro Greco'

The Greek Theatre was built in the 5th century BC, rebuilt in the 3rd century BC and later renovated by the Romans

For a couple of months a year, performances of the Greek tragedies are staged in the theatre; we saw a wonderful production of Euripides' Heracles

And this is the Greek Theatre in Taormina; the theatre's natural setting, overlooking the coast, the sea and Mt Etna, is spectacular

Back in Syracuse, this limestone cave was originally a water storage for Syracuse; the painter Caravaggio coined the name 'The Ear of Dionysius' after a visit there in 1608

Legend has it that Greek tyrant Dionysius I held political prisoners in the cave because the perfect acoustics enabled him to eavesdrop on his captives' secrets

The Roman Amphitheatre in Syracuse is just a few hundred metres from the Greek Theatre, but it was about 400 years later that the Romans built this gladiatorial stadium

And then there's the Villa Romana del Casale

This magnificent private villa was built in the Sicilian countryside around the 4th century AD

The remains of the villa contain an extraordinary collection of elaborate Roman mosaics

The mosaics were preserved in mud from a landslide which covered the remains of the villa in the 12th century

It wasn't until the 19th century that the site was excavated and the astonishing treasure discovered

The identity of the villa's owner has long been the subject of debate, but he was almost certainly a member of the Roman Senate

Many of the villa's mosaics depict hunting scenes while others, like this one, show athletes in competition