Rediscovering the Past. Ancient Akrai in Sicily (with M. Rekowska), in: Et in Arcadia Ego. Studia...

edita curante Vitoldo Dobrowolski Varsoviae 2013

Et in

Arcadia

ego

STUDIA MEMORIAE

PROFESSORIS THOMAE MIKOCKI

DICATA

published by

Institute of Archaeology, University of WarsawKrakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927 Warszawawww.archeo.uw.edu.pl

editor

Witold Dobrowolski

assistant editor

Tomasz Płóciennik

cover and graphic design

Maryna Tomaszewska

computer design and dtp

Piotr Berezowski

photo of tomasz mikocki

Monika Muszyńska

© for the book by Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw© for the constituting papers by the authors

Warsaw 2013

isbn 978-83-61376-93-4

printed by

Geokart, Rzeszów

11 Professor Tomasz Mikocki

15 Bibliography of Professor Tomasz Mikocki

włodzimierz piwkowski25 Et in Arcadia ego

Ptolemais emanuela fabbricotti37 Certezze e incertezze sul Palazzo delle Colonne a Tolemaide (Cirenaica)

elżbieta jastrzębowska45 Enigmatic porphyry block from Ptolemais

julia mikocka53 A statua loricata type sculpture from Ptolemais

monika rekowska61 L’amour à Ptolémaïs... Scènes érotiques sur des objets découverts par les fouilles polonaises jerzy żelazowski, krzysztof chmielewski 75 Casa di Leukaktios. Gli scavi polacchi a Ptolemais (Cirenaica)

Antiqua

alia

Antiqua

alia rita amedick91 Pharos & cancer. Technische Innovationen im frühhellenistischen Alexandria

nicola bonacasa105 Un ritratto colossale della dinastia constantiniana nel Museo Archeologico di Cirene?

rosa maria bonacasa carra, francesco scirè119 Gasr el Lebia. Nuovi dati sui mosaici della basilica orientale

wiktor andrzej daszewski132 Hermes in Paphos

piotr dyczek 137 The Asklepios from Novae — different faces of one god

klaus stefan freyberger149 Local temples in Kanatha: Religious life in the Hellenistic and Roman Period

Contents

tonio hölscher165 Patris similem . . . aetatis salva differentia. Synchronismen und Dynastiebildung in den

Bildnissen der Familie des Augustus

guntram koch183 Ein Sarkophag mit Kentaurenkampf in Genf

jerzy kolendo, tomasz płóciennik, krzysztof rzepkowski 189 Ekphraseis of equestrian statues in ancient literature

jean-jacques maffre201 Un vase plastique archaïque du musée de Cyrène

marek t. olszewski207 The iconographic programme of the Cyprus mosaic from the House of Aion reinterpreted

as an anti-Christian polemic

klaus parlasca241 Anthropoide Tonsärge für Christen — ein Beitrag zur „protokoptischen“ Archäologie

tomasz scholl251 Hellenistic moulded lamp from Jerash in Jordan

Recentiora jerzy axer 255 Dwie noty o latinitas Mickiewicza

roksana chowaniec, monika rekowska261 Rediscovering the past. Ancient Akrai in Sicily

angelika dłuska273 Fritz Pauli in Döhlau

witold dobrowolski285 La « Salle des Arabesques » à la Maison Blanche. Programme iconographique

jane fejfer, edmund c. southworth305 A revisit to Margam

klaus fittschen315 In neun Sammlungen dasselbe Gesicht: Zur Rezeptionsgeschichte eines „Caesar“-

-Bildnisses

6

sibylle friedberg, ebba krull325 Zeus in Döhlau

piotr jaworski329 The Nieborów Niobe rediscovered. The first public presentation of the Radziwiłł family’s

antique collection at the exhibition of ancient objects held in Warsaw in 1889

radosław karasiewicz-szczypiorski, wiesław małkowski, krzysztof misiewicz347 In search of the “Tomb of Nero” — research in the Upper Park in Natolin

hubert kowalski, monika muszyńska361 The lid of a sarcophagus from the collection of Helena Radziwiłł rediscovered

adam łajtar, tomasz płóciennik, jacques van der vliet 371 A squeeze of a magical gem in the dactyliotheca of Philipp Daniel Lippert (on the basis

of a copy kept in the collection of the Nieborów palace)

katarzyna mikocka-rachubowa381 Gusto dell’antico e la collezione di sculture del re Stanislao Augusto

jerzy miziołek391 A siege and a triumphal procession: some observations on the Lanckoroński Collection

and two cassone panels

wojciech nowakowski409 Metallstatuette aus ehem. Rauschen (Ostpreußen): ein römischer Fund oder eine moderne

Nachahmung?

janusz a. ostrowski 417 Starożytności sycylijskie widziane w 1845 roku oczami Michała Wiszniewskiego, profesora

Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego

zbigniew e. szafrański427 Ideology and tradition: the Temple of Hatshepsut in contemporary Egyptian culture

joachim śliwa431 Ks. Stefan Dembiński, dwie figurki terakotowe z Aspendos i wyprawa do starożytnych

miast Pamfilii i Pizydii (1884/1885)

Tabulae

7

Tomasz Mikocki, Kassel, 2005

261rediscovering the past. ancient akrai in sicily

Sicily, with its standing ruins of Greek and Roman architecture, its lovely views and cu-rious customs stemming from turbulent history, has magnetized and fascinated travel-

ers, collectors, and antiquaries, as well as poets and painters, ever since the Renaissance. In the beginning slowly and shyly, and later with growing boldness, visitors from the farthest corners of Europe came to the island. Frequently as a result of their visits the travelers produced accounts testifying to their avid interest in ancient remains. Even so, and despite its geographic closeness to the Italian coast, Trinacria remained difficult to reach and the absence of good routes discouraged from exploring the hinterland. However, it appears that this inaccessibility only whetted curiosity. One might even say that the is-land attracted thrill-seeking travelers unafraid of danger and hardship. In the eighteenth century such journeys were on the rise as a result of a growing interest in antiquities, espe-cially Greek ones, prompted so effectively by Winckelmann’s work. It was under this influ-ence that the search for ancient Greeks in Sicily began. The travelers, whose numbers grew exponentially, began to add Greek centers in Sicily1 to the core program of the Grand Tour beside Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples, even though in the 1780s the island was still considerably underdeveloped in terms of infrastructure — roads were scarce (Greek and Roman tracks were still in use), and most of the communication was conducted by sea, making the interior of the island difficult to reach.

When Professor Tomasz Mikocki studied the process of the Polish discovery of Doric architecture, he analyzed many testimonies (Polish ones included) that were the effect of journeys to Sicily. However, he restricted the scope of his research to authors who admired Sicily’s monumental Doric temples in Agrigento or Selinunte.2 Meanwhile, more deter-mined travelers with a rudimentary historical awareness also paid attention to the smaller centers, including ones situated in the isolated mountainous region of southeastern Sicily with its centre in Syracuse.3

1 Cf. Kanceff 1990–1993; Cometa 1999.2 Mikocki 1988 (with collected bibliography). Ruminations about temple architecture contributed substantially to research on the Doric order, as well

as its reception in European classicism, see recently Bryan 2009. 3 Russo Drago 1990–1993, 45; Vallet, Vallet Mascoli 1993.

roksana chowaniec, monika rekowska

Rediscovering the past. Ancient Akrai in Sicily

[Pls. LXXXVIII–XC]

262 roksana chowaniec, monika rekowska

A small group of viaggiatori illuminati managed to reach Akrai (Ἄκραι, Acrae, Agris, Acrenses), an ancient town to the southwest of modern Palazzolo Acreide in southeastern Sicily, now in the Syracuse province.4

The earliest trace of settlement on the hill of Acremonte (or Acre Monte), dating from the twelfth century BC, was that of the Sicels.5 The name of the already Greek colony was reported by Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War, where he also described its foundation in about 664/663 BC by settlers from Doric Syracuse.6 The name Akrai/Acrae also appeared in the works of Diodorus Siculus, Pliny the Elder and Livy,7 as well as on the maps of Claudius Ptolemy,8 the Tabula Peutingeriana9 and Itinerarium Antonini.10

The town of Akrai was established on one of the hills of the Hyblaean Mountain range at a height of 770 m a.s.l., between the valleys of two, now small, rivers, Anapo (Anapus) to the north and Tellaro (Helorus) to the south. There is a splendid view from the archae-ological site.11 Nearly vertical slopes on all sides except the eastern made access unpleas-ant and virtually impossible in some places. As a Greek colony, Akrai was subordinate to Syracuse,12 fulfilling a strategic role as a center that controlled access to the southeastern part of the island from the west.13

After the final conquest of Sicily in 211 BC, the Romans organized the new province little by little, generally adopting the legal framework in force in southeastern Sicily, that is, in the former Syracusan kingdom of the tyrant Hiero II. In this context, Pliny the Elder listed Acrae among the stipendiariae civitates14 with tax obligations to the Romans.

The recent archaeological research has suggested that the town continued to thrive in the new political framework despite its administrative and fiscal dependency on Rome.15 This comes as a surprise, considering that Syracuse, with which Akrai had previously been associated, broke the alliance with Rome and attempted to defy it.16

Written sources preserved the only memory of ancient Akrai after it had been destroyed and the hill abandoned by the last inhabitants.

The discovery of Akrai occurred in several stages, which perfectly illustrate the evo-lution of the European attitude toward its ancient heritage, from antiquary and historical studies to modern archaeology.

4 Martin et alii 1980; Manni 1981, 133.5 Cf. Orsi 1891; Brea 1956, 7–16.6 Thucydides, VI 5, 2; cf. Di Vita 1987.7 Livy, XXIV 35–36.8 Ptolemy Claudius, Geographia, III 4, 14.9 Tabula Peutingeriana (“Agris”).10 Itineraria Romana. Imperatoris Antonini Augusti Itineraria provinciarum et Maritimum, vol. I, ed. O. Cuntz, Stuttgart 1990, 12, no. 89, 8 (“Acrae” [“Agris”, “Acris”]).11 Michał Wiszniewski (Wiszniewski 1848, vol. II, 137) even mentioned that from the fortifications of Syracuse one could see “fields of Ibla, Megara and

Noto, hills of Akra, behind the blue seas of il Pachino”. Unfortunately he failed to visit Akrai because his itin-erary led him through coastal towns (Palermo, Catania and Syracuse), which he reached by sea; he did not travel inland at all.12 Diodorus Siculus, XI 23, 4, 1.13 Anello 2002, 67.14 Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia, III 8, 91.15 For the recent bibliography on the history of Akrai, see the last note to this article.16 Like other towns formerly subordinated to Syracuse; see Zambon 2008, 215–216.


The first modern testimony of an interest in this town goes back to the 1530s, when the Syracusan humanist Claudio Mario Arezzo (1500–1575) proposed (albeit erroneously, as it quickly turned out) to locate the ancient town on Chiaramonte Hill.17 In the sixteenth century, historical research based on published, and therefore more easily accessible, an-cient sources stimulated the interest in this Greek and Roman center. Historical reflection and interest in one of Syracuse’s earliest colonies brought about intensified explorations in search of its original location. The one to bask in the glory of correct identification was Tommaso Fazello (1498–1570), a Sicilian monk who repeatedly walked the island, meticu-lously examining ancient remains and poring over ancient written sources. In 1558 he was able to locate ancient Akrai in the vicinity of the present town Palazzolo (then Palazzuolo). Fazello [Fig. 1] described the visible ruins as follows:

noi habbiamo posto il principio del fiume Anapo, a cui è vicino a due miglia Palazuolo, chiamato già da’ Siracusani Acre, il qual fu edificato da loro, quando erano in fiore, come dice Tucidide nel sesto libro, i cui popoli, da Plinio son chiamati Acrensi. Il suo Cadavero maraviglioso, si vede gia-cere in terra, presso al Tempio de’Frati minori, chiamato Santa Maria del Iesu; e che sia questo, il nome antico lo manifesta, che si dice, Acremonte, il che si conforma con l’autorità de gli antichi, che dicono, ch’egli era lontan da Siracusa XXIIII miglia. Nelle vicine rupi di questo monte, si ve-dono assaissime caverne, le quali, non so se furono habitationi di Lestrigoni, e di Ciclopi (...).18

Other suggestions appeared as well, including that of Cluverius (1580–1622), the Danzig-born German geographer, who proposed to situate the colony at the Monastero di Santa Maria d’Arcia between Avola and Noto.19 Ultimately, however, it was Fazello’s identi-fication that was adopted without doubts. Even so, some nineteenth-century voyagers un-acquainted with the monk’s work occasionally confused Akrai with another Greek colo-ny, Herbessa.20 The location near Palazzolo was popularized by Prince of Biscari, Ignazio Paternò Castello (1719–1786), famous archaeologist, historian and collector who, casting aside all doubt, wrote of the ruins of “Acri” on Acrimonte Hill in the land of Palazzo in his monumental work Viaggio per tutte le Antichità della Sicilia.21 This identification was con-firmed by Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758–1838), an English traveler, antiquary and archaeol-ogist, who stayed at Palazzolo on 23 June 1790 and mentioned finding “several medals […] bearing an inscription with name”.22

17 “Post Acras, quae ubi fuissent nullum docet argu-mentum nisi sit Acrae Claramons oppidum, ut prin-cipio Acraemons, postea Claramons esset appellatum”, cf. Arezzo 1537, 37.18 Fazello 1574, vol. X, 327.19 Clüver 1619, 352,35–354,36.20 See, for example, Sayve 1822, 258: “Palazzolo [...] est située au pied du Mont Acra, sur lequel était l’antique ville d’Herbessa”.

21 “Da Cassibili continuando il cammino verso la Terra di Palazzo [surely with Palazzolo in mind], s’incontrerà in questo Territorio la montagna nominata Acrimonte; nome forse ritenuto dalla distrutta Città di Acri, la quale si crede essere stata in questi contorni, secondo la opinione del Fazello. Troverà il Viaggiatore curiosi monumenti, forse altrove simil genere non osservati”; cf. Paternò Castello 1781, 83.22 Hoare 1819, 517.


Many foreign travelers copied into their commentaries the interesting observations made successively by Fazello, Cluverius and Ignazio Paternò Castello23 frequently with-out first-hand knowledge of the place or site. That is because — despite the growing body of archaeological knowledge amassed largely by Sicilian researchers impressively dedicat-ed to the study of local antiquities24 — most people touring Sicily from Messina through Catania and Syracuse to Agrigento and Palermo never visited Palazzolo. The reasons were most likely trivial: perilous roads, the lack of bridges and guesthouses to stay the night, the wilderness, and dangers awaiting those who ventured into the Sicilian interior. Many travelers mentioned these problems in their accounts: “Left Noto, traversed the moun-tains to Palazzolo, by very rough and stony road, and through a wild uncultivated country” [Fig. 2].25 Lastly, the appeal of the antique ruins preserved in the neighborhood must have been insufficient.

The brave few who crossed the southeastern part of the island instead of traveling by sea or along the southeastern coast, and passed through the Hyblaean Mountains on a trek from Syracuse to Agrigento, reached Palazzolo.26 However, not many had the desire to see the modest ancient ruins, even if they knew of their existence:

In the wilder parts of the island, where there is merely a mule-track, and but few bridges, the horseman is sometimes kept waiting for a day or two at a miserable fleabitten hovel, until some swollen torrent has subsided enough to allow him to ford it with safety (…) We passed the first night at Palazzolo, the second at Biscari, and the third at Terranova. The first was bad, the sec-ond worse, and the third so utterly insupportable, that to escape the onslaught of the vermin, I ordered the mules in the middle of the night, and departed.27

A true exception to this picture was the tireless explorer, court painter, and the most famous artist to draw Sicilian antiquities, Jean-Pierre Houël (1735–1813). His objective in touring the island in 1776–1779 was to record archaeological objects and he prepared for his journey by conducting extensive studies not only of the ancient written sources, but also of his predecessors interested in the topography of the island.28 He visited virtually every part of Sicily and proceeded methodically, spending considerable time in the southeastern part, where besides the major ancient centers of Syracuse and Catania he reported seeing many smaller towns and even individual buildings.29 In his four-volume publication illustrated with 256 plates,30 he included the first drawings of monuments from the vicinity of Akrai (cf. infra), as well as a description of the ancient town, which reads as follows:

23 For example, Nibby (1819, 65) cited Prince of Biscari without any comment or additions of his own. 24 Momigliano 1980.25 Hoare 1819, 517. Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, who toured Sicily shortly afterward, wrote in his journal: “One should know that there are no roads in Sicily that one can drive over with a vehicle, the entire tour was on mules, which had to be rented from town to town, almost always being cheated by the inhabitants” ( J. U.

Niemcewicz, Pamiętniki czasów moich, Warszawa 1958, vol. I, 196).26 Buscemi 2008.27 Bartlett 1853, 130–131.28 He also made use of books, among others Fazello 1574 and Clüver 1619.29 Gringieri Pantano 1999.30 Houël 1783–1787.


on rencontre à chaque pas des traces plus ou moins marquées d’anciennes habitations. On trou-ve même des restes d’édifices tels, qu’on ne sait pas quels noms leur donner, & notamment sur la montagne voisine, qu’on apelle Acrimonte.31

The publication of Houël’s book provoked an interest in Sicilian antiquities.32 However, it was the excavation launched by the antiquarian and numismatist Baron Gabriele Judica (1760–1835) in the first half of the nineteenth century that proved to be of decisive impor-tance.33 Many ancient structures were discovered, including the necropolis on Colle Orbo excavated in August 1809, catacombs and reliefs in quarries within the town limits, and the theater exposed in 1824. These activities and promptly published results brought renown to the site,34 making Akrai a must-see destination for travelers and scholars from the second quarter of the nineteenth century onward.35 Information about Judica’s excavations was also included in the Dizionario topografico della Sicilia, translated and updated by Gioacchino di Marzo in 185936 and, among others, in the two-volume encyclopedia on ancient geography edited by Sir William Smith.37

Other factors contributing to the fame of the town were its famous assemblage of terracot-tas, one of the earliest homogeneous collections with a known origin and discovery context,38 as well as coins preserving the name of the town in the legend. Baron Judica was only too hap-py to have visitors see his splendid collection [Fig. 3]. Visiting Palazzolo in the summer of 1826, the classical archaeologist, antiquarian and geographer John Hogg (1800–1869) reported:

We went to call on the Baron Judica, and to see his collection of antiquities. This elderly noble-man was fortunately at home, and he kindly showed us his interesting relics. Having been en-gaged for the last sixteen years in making extensive excavation in the site of Acrae, near Palazzolo, his labours had been rewarded in discovering many curious remains, which he explained to us with considerable pleasure.39

Gabriele Judica’s work made Akrai a significant stop on any tour of southeastern Sicily.40 Traveling visitors were particularly interested in the catacombs and the theater [Fig. 4].41

31 Houël 1783–1787, III, 111.32 In this period, since the tourist guidebook had not been invented yet, it was common to plan a journey based on previous travelers’ reports and it was equally usual for extensive excerpts from these published re-ports to be quoted in later publications without always giving the source. 33 Lombardo 1998.34 Judica 1819 — a copy of this publication was pur-chased by the Instituto di corrispondenza archeo-logica, bringing it quickly into scholarly circulation and giving the opportunity to discover Akrai to gain prominence.35 E.g. Boid 1827, 181.36 The first version of the dictionary penned by Vito Amico was published in 1760. A hundred years later it

was expanded and updated with the results of the most recent research, see Marzo 1859, vol. II, 249, n. 1.37 Bunbury 1854.38 Judica 1819, 107–111, pls. X, XI, XII, XIII, XV, XXXIV. The Judica collection, apart from other Sicilian collec-tions (Ignazio Paternò Castello, Prince of Biscari and Gabriele Lancellotto Castello, Prince of Torremuzza) was the ground for an emerging interest in ancient ter-racottas, see Gerhard 1835, 27.39 Hogg 1855, 242.40 Russo Drago 1990–1993, 61.41 The theater was drawn among others in 1828 by H. Dunnage and C. Laver (drawing in the collection of the Institute of British Architects “Acrae [Sicily]: Odeion & Theatre, Palazzolo Acreide, measured draw-ings, 1828 [SD50/1(1–7)]”).


An extensive description of the antiquities (including the theater, bouleuterion mistak-enly dubbed an odeon, diverse architectural features and necropolis) in Akrai, which was published thanks to Baron Judica and the Sicilian antiquities commission, can be found in one of the five volumes of Le antichità della Sicilia, a study written by Prince of Serradifalco Domenico Lo Faso Pietrasanta (1783–1863). He mentioned: “Ci resta finalmente a dire di Acre, l’unica fra le colonie siracusane di cui rimangono preziosi avanzi ed onorevoli ricordi”.42 In consequence, many travelers of other nationalities later copied this information into their accounts,43 although some, like Baron de Galembert (1819–1880), who visited Akrai in the middle of the nineteenth century, found words to describe what they had seen:

À une petite distance de Palazzolo, nous visitons les ruines de l’antique ville grecque appelée Acre. De la haute colline où elle était placée, l’oeil embrasse un vaste horizon dans lequel on distingue parfaitement l’Etna, Syracuse et le cadre immense de la mer. On retrouve à Acre les degrés encore bien conservés d’un théatre, et l’on aperçoit de tous côtés des catacombs qui ser-virent de tombeaux aux Grecs et plus tard aux chrétiens.44

The next marked stage in the study of antiquities from Akrai was a comprehensive de-scription of the monuments and topography of the ancient town, published in 1867 by a classical archaeologist from Lübeck, Julius Schubring (1839–1914).45

The imagination of explorers was stirred just as much, if not more, by the legendary palace of the tyrant Hiero II, said to have stood on the Acrimonte Hill. Houël quoted the myth, explaining the modern name of the town by the presence of forts built on the hill-side to protect the palazzo (hence palazzolo). The existence of the palace was supposedly confirmed by an inscription with the name of the ruler, which Houël knew about but had never seen.46

Also Judica recorded information about the alleged palace and inscription locating it, but his detailed account indicates the source of the legend. The palace was thought to be located near the main access route to the town from the east, where still in the seventeenth century Giacomo Bonanni47 was said to have “seen” an inscription commemorating Hiero II on an architrave above the entrance. Subsequently, according to Judica, the palace was transformed into a church (Tempio dei Cristiani) for the emergent Christian community and dedicated to nostra Signora Assunta (known first as Madonna del Popolo, and later as

42 Lo Faso Pietrasanta 1840, 158.43 John Hogg devoted a few pages of his journal to translating into English the information received from Domenico Lo Faso Pietrasanta, Prince of Serradifalco: Lo Faso Pietrasanta 1840, 158–166; cf. Hogg 1855, 245–250.44 Galembert 1861, 100.45 Schubring 1861–1867.46 Houël 1783–1787, III, 111: “Le Second Hiéron, tyran de Syracuse, avoit un château sur le mont Acra, pour y venir respirer la qualité d’un air très-pur, ce qui peu-pla beaucoup ce lieu. A mi-côte on avoit construit des

forts pour défendre ce palais ; mais ces forts engagèrent à fonder des habitations autour d’eaux ; on leur donna le nom de Palazzolo. De belles eaux de sources qui s’y trouvent y fixèrent la population ; on abandonna le som-met de la montagne pour s’y établire: depuis ce temps le haut de cette roche est resté désert. Les derniers ha-bitants de ce lieu élevé, furent les Récolets ; mais enfin ils en sont partis, & en s’en allant, ils ont emporté la dernière pierre du palais sur laquelle étoit écrit le nom d’Hiéron” [original orthography].47 Bonanni 1624, 190.


Madonna delle Grazie). In the sixteenth century, the church was given to a monastic order (Convento di Santa Maria di Gesù dei Minori Osservanti). It was said that the building along with the inscription were destroyed, apparently during the earthquake of 1693.48 Assuming there was a palace of Hiero II in Akrai, Judica’s information would situate it at the foot of Acrimonte Hill, close to the San Giovanni valley. Reportedly in the vicinity were also the ruins of a small church of Madonna delle Grazie, a record of which is preserved in the name of a lane running through that area. But no archaeological remains of the alleged pal-ace have been discovered.

Other antiquities in the neighborhood also whetted the curiosity of avid enthusiasts of the ancient past. One was a rock sanctuary of La Cuntrata del Santicedda, also called “the street of holycell”,49 nowadays better known as Santoni (in Sicilian dialect: Santuni), an important sanctuary of the goddess Kybele dated to the third century BC.50 Jean-Pierre Houël left perhaps the first full testimony of the charm and importance of the site,51 offer-ing detailed descriptions of the relief decoration and publishing excellent drawings, which continue to be studied today, even though the actual reliefs have not all stood up well to the passage of time and human imprudence and vandalism [Fig. 5].52

The penultimate important stage in the process of discovery of Akrai is associated with one of the most famous Italian archaeologists of the turn of the nineteenth century, Paolo Orsi (1859–1935).53 He started his investigation of the necropolis of Akrai in 1888 and ex-plored the quarries in 1920–1921. Additionally, a railway line was built here in 1918, which greatly facilitated communication. In consequence, travelers flocked to Palazzolo. People began to come more and more often to Akrai and to the charming Palazzolo Acreide lying at the foot of the Acrimonte Hill, even though some visitors were not impressed. George Dennis wrote:

The town is quite modern, having been built since the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed the buildings that then occupied the site. It is intersected by one long dirty street of mean houses; the churches possess no beauty, and contain no works of art.54

48 Judica 1819, 3. After an earthquake the church was erected in a new spot in the city center, on the Vittorio Emanuele street.49 Hogg 1855, 254.50 Vermaseren 1978, nos. 152–165; Bellia 2007; Pedrucci 2009, with earlier references.51 Houël 1783–1787, 112–114, pls. CXCVI–CXCVII.52 Gringieri Pantano 2003. Houël was the first to re-port seeing the local inhabitants intentionally destroy-ing reliefs: “Dans un espace de dix à douze toises, on voit une très grande quantité de bas-reliefs ; la plupart sont fort mutilés, & même tous le sont plus ou moins. Quelques-uns sont effacés plutôt par la main des hom-mes que par celle du temps. Les bergers des environs prennent quelquefois des pierres, & pas désoeuvrement,

sans mauvaise intention, vont en frapper les mains & les têtes de ces figures, & les abattent, sans pouvoir rendre eux-même aucune raison de ce qu’ils sont. Ils détrui-sent pour détruire, comme des enfants brisent, les jou-joux qu’on leur donne, & qu’ils regrettent quand il ne les ont plus” (Houël 1783–1787, III, 112). The process continued into modern times and today most of the re-liefs are completely illegible. 53 Later on, in 1953 Prof. Luigi Barnabò Brea, in cooper-ation with Dr. Clelia Laviosa, carried out the first regu-lar excavations within the ancient town. A comprehen-sive excavation was undertaken in 1963–1965 and 1969 by Prof. Giuseppe Voza, who mainly was interested in the urban plan.54 Dennis 1864, 362.


The most recent step in the exploration of Akrai was taken by archaeologists from the University of Warsaw, working in collaboration with the Soprintendenza dei Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Siracusa and Parco Archeologico di Eloro e della Villa del Tellaro e delle Aree Archeologiche di Noto e dei Comuni Limitrofi. Using state-of-the-art tools, equip-ment and methods of archaeological research, the scholars are contributing new informa-tion to the knowledge about the ancient town.55 The result of these works, however, is mat-ter for another paper.

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Arezzo 1537 Cl. Marii Aretii De Situ insulae Siciliae libellus, Palermo.Bartlett 1853 W. H. Bartlett, Pictures from Sicily by the author of forty days in the

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roksana chowaniec

Institute of ArchaeologyUniversity of [email protected]

monika rekowska

Institute of ArchaeologyUniversity of [email protected]

lxxxviii

Fig. 1. The front page of Tommaso Fazello book Le due deche dell’historia di Sicilia, Venice 1574

Fig. 2. “Very rough and stony roads” in the wilder part of the island, perhaps similar to those in the vicinity of Akrai. An engraving from work of W. H. Bartlett (Barlett 1853, 130)


lxxxix

Fig. 3. Baron Gabriele Judica’s family palace. A location of Judica’s collection. Modern view, Palazzolo Acreide, corso Vittorio Emanuele

Fig. 4. The famous catacombs in Akrai (photo M. Bogacki, R. Chowaniec)


xc

Fig. 5a–b. A rock sanctuary of Santoni. The drawings by J.-P. Houël

(Houël 1783–1787 , III, 112–114, pls. CXCVI–CXCVII)


Rediscovering the Past. Ancient Akrai in Sicily (with M. Rekowska), in: Et in Arcadia Ego. Studia...

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