Ever since we arrived in Scicli, our eyes have been drawn up to the church located right behind our apartment…..on top of a high, high hill.  Early one morning, before the impossible heat set in, we decided to explore.

San Matteo, Hilltop Ruin in Scicli, Sicily

It was an uphill climb, fascinating and

Upward Climb

silent in the early morning,

Climb Continues

and along the way we saw some normal every-day things that seemed to stand out in the quiet….

Patience

like the very patient (and hungry) cat intently waiting for breakfast………or the veggie and fruit

Every Day Commerce

vendor (the one with great brakes on his little truck) stopping to conduct business with one of his regular customers who appeared out of nowhere.

We continued climbing and when we finally turned around to have a look, we were astonished to see how far we had climbed in such a short distance…..

The Path Widens

A short and steep climb later, past a couple of the caves that housed citizens at one time, and

Overgrown Cave

we found ourselves turning a corner and facing the imposing Chiesa di San Matteo.

Chiesa di San Matteo, Scicli, Sicily

This church, completely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693, was the mother church of the town until being abandoned in 1874 because by then most of the settlement of Scicli had moved down to the valley below.

Scicli Panorama to the Sea

The view from San Matteo is breathtaking…..the whole town of Scicli lies beneath its shadow…..but the truly surprising thing for me was to see the absolutely, positively direct road heading straight for that sliver of dark blue in the photo…….the Mediterranean Sea.   And that’s just where we’ll be heading as soon as we figure out the bus schedule.