The ancient Greek city of Selinunte

MARSALA, SICILY, ITALY–During the afternoon the field party of the International Bryozoology Association drove south out of the Sicilian mountains back to the southern coast to visit the ruins of an entire Greek city founded in the 7th Century BCE and captured by the Carthaginians after a siege in 409 BCE. It is rare to have so much of an ancient city still in place. It was like being in Greece itself. Above is a partially reconstructed temple on the acropolis (a high worship center) opposite the city center across a valley.
Next to the reconstructed temple are two other temples still in ruins. They are a wondrous tangle of columns and blocks.
Steve Hageman is standing by one of the largest toppled columns. We thought it looked a lot like a very, very large disarticulated crinoid column. (You may have to be a paleontologist to appreciate that viewpoint!)
I hiked over to the remains of the agora, or administrative center. It is surrounded by a wall augmented by later inhabitants but still mostly original. It has a spectacular (and strategic) view of the sea.
From the agora you can look back to the northeast and have the view of the acropolis temples that the inhabitants must have cherished. I very much like the style of some reconstruction amidst the dramatic and evocative ruins.