Wm. Miller. Sculp.
Ruins of Selinus.
Just by the great temple are the ruins of a second, in which many of the lower drums of the columns still remain in their places; and a few yards farther off, there are parts of a third temple, which is of better architecture than either of the others, or at least more pleasing to me.
The three temples now described are supposed to have been out of the city. On the opposite hill, which is hardly a mile distant, there are the distinct ruins of three other temples, and traces of two or three smaller edifices. The eminence on which they stand is surrounded by a terrace-wall, which has been imagined to be that of the city. It sets off at each course, presenting the appearance of a very steep flight of steps, and this is sufficient to determine that it was not built for defence. The whole hill was probably holy ground, and these walls formed a common basement to the sacred edifices with which it was crowned. Two of these temples have the peculiar form of capital which I have just noticed as existing in the great Temple. They are less beautiful than those of the Athenian Doric, but the parts harmonize well together, and the effect seems to have been well understood. I can easily imagine that it would find many advocates in England, particularly among those who admire bold projections and deep shadows. This peculiarity is not however to be found in all these buildings. Three of the larger temples exhibit it, in the other three the capitals resemble those of the Greek order. The northernmost of the three, on the second hill, is an example of this Sicilian Doric, and as the surface of the stone is more wasted in this than in any other example, without any apparent reason for the difference in the nature of the stone, we may conclude that it was not a recent innovation; but neither will a comparison of the condition of these edifices entitle us to suppose it a very ancient method, which afterwards gave way to the imitation of the Greeks, for the edifice which, after this, has the appearance of the highest antiquity, exhibits the more usual form. In one of the temples on the second eminence, eleven of the columns of the north side lie parallel to each other, and apparently just as they fell. They fell to the north, and this is the general direction in all these ruins, though with some exceptions.
We know nothing of all this heap of magnificence, but that it belonged to the city of Selinus, which was destroyed by the elder Hannibal about 450 years before Christ. There was afterwards a Roman colony called Selinuntum, but the style of the six principal temples renders it certain that these buildings are of Grecian origin.
I slept at Castel Vetrano, where I had some difficulty in procuring a bed, and returned on the 29th and 31st to the ruins, but I found the daily ride rather fatiguing. The road, for about four miles from the temples, crosses a plain very gently descending towards the sea, covered with Pistacia Lentiscus, Daphne Gnidium, the prickly broom (Spartium spinosum), and the tree-spurge (Euphorbia dendroides), the two latter of which bear leaves in the winter, and show their naked stems in the summer. Nearer to Castel Vetrano, the track passes a very pretty valley, and the whole of this part is an exceedingly stony soil, but covered with olive-trees and vineyards; the latter in particular, seem to delight in this sort of soil, and produce some of the best wine in Sicily. On the 30th I rode to the quarries of Selinus, which are about eight miles from Castel Vetrano, and six from the temples. They are particularly curious, because several pieces of columns, whose dimensions show them to have been intended for the large temple, lie scattered about. Others have been prepared by a channel cut round them, while the base still remains attached to the native rock. I suspect however, that all these are rejected blocks; and they consequently do not form any proof that the solid masses of the building were not completed. Neither here nor at the temple do we perceive any means provided for raising these immense stones to their places, and I am at a loss to conceive how it was performed, but there are even, square sinkings, in one end of several, which were probably made in order to receive cubes to assist in fixing them together. My guide assured me that they had been cut in order to steady the stone on the head of the giant who carried it. In some of the smaller pieces there are lewis holes.
On the 1st of September I left Castel Vetrano, and proceeded over naked hills to Calatafimi. We here again cross beds of selenite, and of a white, argillaceous rock, which forms rounded eminences, and afterwards, hills of a porous carbonate of lime. These are more broken and varied than the former, and many of the mountains at a distance are exceedingly abrupt in their forms. At Salemi the tops are of conglomerate, which seems to lie on the calcareous beds. The next morning a ride of about four miles brought me from Calatafimi to Segesta, where there is a temple remarkable for having all the columns of the external peristyle still erect, while the cell has disappeared. There are, however, some traces of foundations, but the soil is entirely rock, and these were perhaps only erected to make good deficiencies in the level, without determining the position of the walls. The architecture has neither great beauty, nor decided singularity, when compared with other Sicilian buildings, but it is unfinished, and this, though a source of imperfection, generally exhibits some circumstances in the mode of proceeding which render the ruin more interesting. These columns are not fluted, and whether the artist proposed that they should be so may be doubted, though it was probably intended to rework the whole surface. On the steps, and in some blocks of the frieze, the projections left for raising them into their places are still seen. The progress was curious, for while in the steps, the arrisses are formed correctly as guides for finishing the work, and the general face is left rough; in the abaci of the capitals, the face was worked and the angles left, in order that they might not be injured in the placing; and a similar method was adopted in the architraves. The situation of this edifice is singular, as there is neither sea-port nor productive plain in its immediate neighbourhood. Various ruins of buildings belonging to the ancient city may be observed on a hill just by the temple. The principal of these is the Theatre. The building is of a gray limestone, containing very compressed nodules of flint; the whole cavea remains, reclining against the slope of the hill, but the natural curve being insufficient, it has been made out by art. There is a doorway in each flank wall, with an opening to a descending passage under the sedile. This doorway is only 2 feet 2 inches wide, and the head is semicircular. This part is not however constructed of wedges, but cut out of a single stone.
After a stay of six hours at Segesta, I resumed my route to Alcamo, which is seated on an elevated plain, intersected by winding valleys, and sheltered by surrounding mountains, but open to the sea. It is fertile and well cultivated. Parthenico, a village at the extremity of this plain, is a most delightful spot. The mountains above it are covered with wood, and a magnificent crag rising above the houses is beautifully fringed with trees. Hence we command the whole plain of Alcamo, containing a mixture of vineyards, olive-grounds, and orchards; and beyond these is the noble bay, with its steep and craggy shores. From Parthenico we ascend the mountains, which after a little time resume their accustomed nakedness, but the road is really a magnificent work, winding along the side of a deep and narrow valley. It rises to a considerable elevation, perhaps 2,000 feet. There were vineyards at the highest parts, but only in warm and sheltered situations. From the summit, one long descent conducted us through Monreale to Palermo, where on my return, I was informed that the packet would not sail for ten days, and that a quarantine had just been established at Naples for all vessels from Palermo, on account of reports of a plague at Tunis, and an infectious fever at Malta; intelligence which, to say the truth, sent me to bed in the dismals, for I am getting very anxious to finish my observations at Naples and Rome, and to return to England and to you.
I have told you nothing about Monreale, which nevertheless deserves notice, both for its situation, and the magnificent Norman Cathedral it contains, rich with marble columns, and the walls covered with ornaments and historical compositions in mosaic, the ground of which is principally gold. It was erected by William the Second, who reigned from 1166 to 1189. The arches are all pointed, but many of the ornaments are like those of our Anglo-Norman period, only instead of being carved, they are for the most part executed in inlaid marbles. Other ornaments are evidently copied from the Roman, and are by no means ill executed. These also are principally in mosaic, or inlaid work, but there is also a portion of very good carving. The western doorway is particularly rich and handsome. The successive projection of the parts is very small, and this character I have already noticed as prevailing also in the Saracenic buildings in Sicily. About Monreale the aloe is very abundant, and I once counted ninety-eight flowering stems in one view. It is employed as a fence, but it is not a good one, for though excellent for one or two years before flowering, yet as the old plant dies immediately afterwards, two or three years elapse before the offsets are sufficiently advanced to supply its place effectually. I sometimes also see the cactus employed as a fence, but after some time the lower part loses its prickles, and men and animals may creep through.
I went to the play the day after my return from Segesta, and saw (will you believe it?[[39]]) the whole story of Orlando Furioso cut down into a farce! All those episodes were omitted in which neither Orlando nor Angelica had any share, but everything relating to them was carefully preserved, not excepting Astolpho’s smelling bottle with Orlando’s wits, though Astolpho makes his appearance on the stage merely on this occasion. A character called Lappanio is added, as a servant to Orlando, and this character, or rather this actor, in his native character of a Palermitan buffoon, is pushed into every transaction. As a buffoon he is excellent: he has a great deal of humour, and never betrays the least consciousness of the bursts of laughter which he excites; but as he speaks Sicilian I could not always understand him.