Fred Van Liew
- Feb 8, 2023
- 3 min read

The Open Road

We left early, having packed an orange, apple and croissant for the road. Coffee would have to wait. Our general intent was to wander for two days, returning the car in Messina the end of the second. From there we’d cross the Strait of Messina by ferry, arriving in San Giovanni at nightfall.

We did have two planned stops, UNESCO sites of significant importance. Google maps predicted a two hour drive to the Villa Romana del Casale.

Arriving in four, the effort was worth it.

The Villa, 3km south of Piazza Armerina, had been a large Roman palace. Two plausible theories are suggested as to its original ownership. One, that it was built in the early 4th century by a Roman senator engaged in the import and export of wild animals. A second, that it was the country home of the Emperor Maximian. The size of the original villa - 60 rooms on four levels - suggests to historians it had an imperial owner.

Excavation of the villa revealed it to be home of one of the richest collections of Roman mosaics in the world, almost 40,000 square feet of mosaic floors, well preserved due to a massive landslide in the 1300’s.

Off-season, and on a Monday, we had the site to ourselves but for a Berlin couple. Pa, knowing some German, chose to follow them, leaving me to photograph the highly detailed figures.

The Berlin couple left just as I finished, allowing Pa and me the opportunity for a solitary stroll,

imagining what life was like for the privileged of Rome before the Fall of the Empire a century later.

Our next stop was the Valley of the Temples, northwest then southwest, near Agrigento and the southern coast.

Founded as a Greek colony in the 6th century, Agrigento became a major municipality in the Mediterranean region. Little exists of the original city with the exception of the sacred hill above it. But that’s what brought us there.

Overlooking modern Agrigento, the plane surrounding it and the Mediterranean beyond,

are the remains of Doric temples

and the remnants of an early Christian burial ground.

Walking at dusk,

we felt ourselves in a time capsule of reverence, no matter the beliefs of the Greeks, Romans, and Christians who honored the site for reasons unique to their world views.

After a quiet night at the Gocci di Girgenti, we were on the road on good time in the morning.

Without agenda and free to roam, we appreciated the old