PHOTO OF THE DAY June 25, 2009

Taken with a D300 and the kit lens 18-85 Nikkor F 3.5-4.5. The place is Segesta in Sicily, a great place to visit.
This Doric temple built by the Phoenicians, along with it's amphitheater are all that is left of a once important city in the history of Magna Grecia. It's importance as an instigator between Syracuse and Athens, led to the latter's failed occupation of the island that then gave way to the Punic wars that led to Sicily's becoming Rome first Province. It was also the beginning of the end of Greek hegemony. The Greeks never occupied Sicily, they merely settled it. Traces of their enduring culture is still noted especially on the Eastern part of the island. At one time, Syracuse rivaled Athens in importance, not to mention that is was one of the largest cities in Europe. The abuses of Verres and other Roman pro consuls are legendary. The Roman invasion, the first, and one of the cruelest, was the beginning of of a series of invasions that finally ended in 1860 with Garibaldi's landing in Marsala where he began the liberation and unification of Italy. Italy did indeed begin in Sicily as did the Italian language at the Court of Frederick the Second in the first part of the 13th century. It is rumored that he was poisoned by agents of the Pope because the latter feared being surrounded by the Holy Roman Empire on the north of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Sicily to the south. This was the result of Frederick the Second's being both the Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Kingdom of Sicily. Palermo enjoyed a supreme position of culture and knowledge. It was where the Italian Renaissance actually began. The city replete with Arab, Greek, Jewish & Roman culture was the center of learning. The island, always a bridge of culture to Europe due to it's strategic location at the center of the then known world: Africa, Asia, and Europe now became even more of a contributor of culture. Of course this location also brought the invasions that tortured the island but also created it's unique culture, cuisine and mannerisms.
No trip to Italy is complete without visiting Sicily.
It is Italy under a magnifying glass of the senses. Here everything is more intense from the colors to the flavors. Go and see for yourselves.
More on the Wonders of Sicily in future posts.
Rocco Galatioto