Selinunte

It is situated on a level piece of ground which is 30 mt. s.l.m. Selinunte got its name from the "Selinon" , the savage parsley. It was founded by the Megara Hyblea's peasants who were led by Pammilos, in the VII century b.C.. Later, Sicilian peasants moved there from Megara, both in the last ten-year period of the VII century and in the whole VI century until the beginning of the V century. Selinunte tried twice to create some colonies in Western Sicily: both the undertakings failed. At the beginning of the V century, the war between Sicilian Greeks and Chartaginians broke out; the war ended with the Himera battle in 480 and Selinunte preferred to join its forces with Chartago: it was a strange choice.There was a large number of hard conflicts against Segesta until 409, which was the year of its destruction caused by the Chartaginians. Therefore, Selinunte was conquered by the Punics who fortified and re-built it, in the same area, where before there was the acropolis: the archaeological ruins consist of various both Punic and Greek houses.The chartaginian dominion went on until the first Punic War. Chartago decided to concentrate its strenghts on Lylibeo, and people from Selinunte moved there. In such a way, the Punics had more chances to defend themselves from the Roman attack, but Selinunte was destroyed and went to rack and ruin. In the ancient town, the monuments only became a lot of ruins after a violent earthquake, in X or XI century. In the second half of the XVI century, the town was discovered by the historian Tommaso Fazello. In 1823, the English undertook some archaeological excavations. A large plan of studies , researches and a museum equipment are being realized in the archaeological park.The Selinunte archaeological area consists of the Acropolis, the Eastern Hill the Manuzza tableland, the Malophoros sanctuary and two Necropolis (Manicalunga e Galera Bagliazzo).

THE ACROPOLIS

It is situated on the hill between Modione (the ancient Selinon) and Cottone, where there was the town's harbour. It consists of a grid-structure which is along two main intersected thoroughfares(9mt wide). We have recently understood that the civil houses, built after 409 B.C., were little buildings with a door looking at the road and four to nine metres front. Around the acropolis, there are the squared blocks of forts (VI and V century) which have been restructered in successive stages. The walls were interrupted by towers (five of them have been already discovered) by gates and by pasterns. The gates were at the edges of the main thoroughfares (North, East and West) and the Northern gate seems to be strenghtened. On the Acropolis' hill, there are the ruins of five temples.

Il The C Temple , peripteral hexastyle, 63,70 long and 24 mt wide; the 41,53X10,40 metres cella was between a closed pronaos and an entrance; in front of the pronaos there were four columns which were in line with the front's columns. The temple is special shaped in its columns (6X17): the four ones at the cornere are larger than the others and have about 16 to 20 flutes. The intercoloumn is varying, too. Besides, they do not have an entasises and some of them have been made in a cylinder way (the coloumn is composed by different pieces one upon the other): on the contrary, others are monolithic (the coloumn is only composed by one piece of tufa) In 1823, three metopes showing the "Sun Quadriga", "the killing of Medusa by Perseo" and "Heracle when captured the Cercopies", have been discovered. They were topsherds which have been re-made at the Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo. A very big polichromatic terracotta-Gorgone Mask has also been re-made . Inside the C Temple, there are several Punic-seals. In the temple-clearing there is an altar and a 57X2,80 metres Doric portic which is parallel to the walls.

The B Temple, prostyle tetrastyle, is 8,40 metres long and4,60 metres wide, and is near the C Temple. Tracks of polichromatic coverings and a pedestal have been found inside its cella: people could go in, through nine-steps in the eastern side. In front of it, there are the ruins of an altar.

The D Temple was situated at the northern side of the C one: it is peripteral tetrastyle and its measures are 56X24 metres. Its cella had an entrance and a prostyle pronaos; the coloumns which are 6X13 metres, were 7,51 metres high and had a different number of flutes.
At its eastern side, remainigs of a small temple in antis have been found, they probably belong to the archaic age.
This area also consists of an archaic megaron, along the east-west thoughfare. It is probably the most ancient holy building. There is also the so called Y Temple, which is a megaron too. The six metopes which represent Artemide, Latona, Apollo, the winged Sphinx, the Europea's rape, heracle who fought against the bull, Demetra and Kore, and a quadriga are supposed to come from the Y Temple. They have archaic features.
The area where there are the C and D Temple is covered with remainigs of buildings and altars.

In the Acropolis there are also The A temple and The O temple: The first one is a peripteral hexastyle which is 40,23X16,23 metres. It had two round little staircases among its pronaos and its cella which is a step over the pronaos. The little staircases led to the roaf. On the pronao's floor Tanit and Hermies' Wand's features and the Sun symbol have been discovered.
At the eastside, remainigs of a T building, perhaps an altar or the temple's propylaeum have been discovered. At last, there is the O Temple which is situated at the northern side of the A Temple and it is similar to it.

MANUZZA BULIDINGS.

That was probably the residencial area in Selinunte: the streets were like a grid and the buildings were irregular if they were along the northern-southern thoroughfare. It had been strenghtened by walls but later it was abandoned and used as a necropolis since IV century onwards.

THE NECROPOLIS.

The Necropolis have been only partially explored: according to their remainings, we know that the ritual-inhumation was very practised inside the graves which were digged in the tufa. In Manicalunga's necropolis the ritual-cremation was also used. Clay sarcophagus and funeral equipments have been found. The funeral equipments are various and rich with local production objects and pro-corinthian or corinthian vases, too. On one hand, in the Galera Bagliazzo's necropoolis there are subgeometric and linear vases; on the other hand, there is Altic pottery which is painted with black and red features. The remainings at Galera Bagliazzo date back to VII-VI century B.C.; the pottery at Manicalunga is younger.

THE EASTERN HILL

On the Eastern hill there are the remainings of the E, F, G temples which are all Doric and looking at east-west, as the ones at the Acropolis.
The F Temple , pseudo peripteral hexastyle, is 65,76X27,41 metres and is the most arcaic among those ones in the Eastern Hill: the coloumns do not have any entasis apart the one of the eastern front. They were joined together by ceilings "A schermo" which were until 3 mt high: its objective was to hide the religious practices. In the hall there was a four coloumn row which was parallel to the front. In 1823 during the excavation campaignes, two half metopes made in tufa have been discovered. They represent Dionisio striking a kneeling giant and Athena after having won one of her enemies: these metopes are kept at the Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo.
The E temple is parallel to the F one: it's a peripteral hexastyle of 70,18X27,65 metres. It has a double antis cella with entrance and was built during the Classic age. About twenty years ago it has been partially re-built. It is thought to be one of the best exemples of Doric architecture in Sicily, thanks to its order, harmony, proportion and its symmetry. Five metopes are from this temple's pronaos and from its "opistodomo" (the back of the temple). Four of these metopes have been re-built at the Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo; they represent Heracle who fought against an Amazon;, Zeus and Hera 's wedding;, the dogs tearing Atteon before Artemis; and Athena winning the giant Encelado;. The female faces and arms of these metopes are made up of Paro's marble and are inside the tufa.
Now the G Temple , is totally destroyed but it was one of the wider ancient temples. It was built in successive stages and was continously altered. Thanks to these changes its eastern-front had more archaic characteristics than the western one which was built during the Classic Age. It was a 110,36X50,10 metres peripteral octostyle,with a tripartite cella in entrance, prostyle pronaos and opistodomo in antis.
In 1892, one of its coloumns was re-built; now it stands alone among the ruins and it is called "fuso della vecchia"(old's woman's shaft).

THE MALOPHOROS SANCTUARY

In the western side of the Acropolis, in the Gaggera district, there are remainings of a sanctuary which was dedicated to a goddess, maybe Demetra. People could enter the holy area through a covered propylaeum with two frontons at its ends: there were two altars for sacrifices, a well and the Malophoros Temple. The temple was a megaron which had the pronaos and the cella with an entrance, it hadn't neither bases nor columns and was built and enlarged in following stages. Therefore Doric , Ionic and Punic elements are its features. About 12000 votive terracotta figurines have been found in the sancuary. They belong to different times and each of them represents a goddess. Besides, Corinthian and Pro-Corinthian vases, one stele, a low-releaf which represent Pluto carrying off Persephone and a great number of oil-lamps of the Costantinian Age have been found, proving a Christian installation among the ruins of the Sanctuary.