It's surprising to see the church in a less prominent spot than whatever it is standing at the top of the hill.

It was, at some point. Paved, two lanes, barriers where needed.

Great video. Al, you did a great job navigating that obstacle course! It took both of us to get each bike through.

Beautiful photo!

Looks great!

Even with all the comments about roadside trash, I'd have had no idea of the scale of the problem without this photo.

That was a "highway?" It looks more like a decaying farm track.

Interestingly, Telamons (male figures acting as columns) often seem to have their arms in awkward positions but Caryatids (female figures doing the same) usually support the load on their heads.

Yes, the guys doing sit ups.

Right. I see some of the same at places in Pennsylvania, and saw some out west last summer as well.

But I'd bet a Euro that a secondary purpose (or motivation) is to keep people off the rocks.

It’s mesh to contain the loose rock, held in place with anchors drilled into the rock. We see this along the Sea to Sky Highway at home (Vancouver to Whistler).

That heavy fencing at the top suggests that they are trying to contain / prevent loose rocks from falling, though it could also be there to prevent people from clambering around and damaging the cliffs.

According to

https://www.lavalledeitempli.it/en/itineraries/agrigento/scala-turchi-turkish-steps

"The entire stretch of coast around the Scala dei Turchi is at hydrogeological risk and action is needed for the safety of people and the protection of the environment, so that its original appearance can be maintained and not altered by human activities.

Recently, many associations have denounced the seriousness of the situation, made increasingly complicated by poor water management and the impact of tourism. In this regard, there are already those who are in favour of a quota system to restrict the number of visitors."

It’s the reason for the tourism development in the area. Most people come my car from Agricento or further and apparently the large parking lots are full before 9 on summer mornings.

The signs referred to falling rock and our hosts said something about reopening in May. It was pretty far back to simply keep people off the rock formation.

In the museum there was a photo of this location but showing a different modern bronze statue there. Interesting!