SEGESTA (province of Trapani), founded by the Elymians and called EGESTA by the Greeks, was situated on a plateau facing the hill where still rises its ancient temple (Mount Barbaro). The temple is incredibly undamaged; the theatre, which is very beautiful, offers a rare view: indeed the parched and bare area that slopes gently to the sea gives it an evocative aspect. The city played a very important role during the wars between Carthaginians and Greeks; in 307 BCE Agathocles killed many of its inhabitants and the city lost everything, even its name, however it rose again and took the name of DIAKAIOPOLIS. In 260 (First Punic War) it was attacked by the Carthaginians and later freed by the Romans and then sacked by Verres and destroyed at last by the Vandals and the Saracens. The PERIPTEROS temple (36 Doric columns – 6 on the front and 14 on the sides) has a peculiarity: only the cornice, the colonnades and the pediment were built. Probably it was erected in 425 BCE and left incomplete in 409 as the city was destroyed for the first time. It has fluted columns and the foundations still shows the sheets used to carry the blocks; there is no evidence of paving or internal modification: it all proves that the  temple was left unfinished, even if some archaeologists assume that it was conceived as empty “reliquary” surrounding the Sacrifices Altar. The columns shows also a bulge that corrected the optical illusions (which can be noticed in the Athens Parthenon). In spite of everything, the temple of Segesta is one of the most beautiful examples of the Doric style worldwide. The THEATRE is located in the northern area, carved on Mount Barbaro’s top; it was built between the 3rd and the 2nd century BCE and has a cavea  (63 metres in diameter) with 20 flight of stairs carved in the rock and divided into seven areas. The stage was destroyed and right below the archaeologists found the remains of two Doric temples dating to the 6th and the 5th century BCE.

SELINUNTE (province of Trapani), the greatest city of the Magna Grecia, is situated on the seashore, 13 km away from Castelvetrano (province of Trapani). It was founded by a colony from Megara Hyblaea in 650 BCE. It was destroyed in 409 BCE by the Carthaginians. The inhabitants were killed or deported and only a few succeeded in fleeing to Agrigento. The people living in the near towns have always stocked up with the rocky materials from Selinunte, sacking houses, streets, until the 20th century, when the Italian Government proclaimed it archaeological area. There are eight TEMPLES: 5 (A, B, C, D, E) on the Acropolis and 3 on the hill. Between 580 BCE and 480 BCE Selinunte went through its most thriving period. The ACROPOLIS. It has a surface area of 350 metres and it was enclosed by walls. Next to it: the MALOPHOROS Sanctuary, a MEGARON from the 5th century BCE, a temple devoted to Demeter. The most representative temple is the TEMPLE “E”. Built in a Doric style (68 metres high and 25 metres large), with 38 columns (six on the front), it is devoted to Juno Lucina and it is the most recent of the temples built in the Acropolis (it has dimensions and proportions of the Classical period, as much as the Athens Parthenon). It is important to remember that Sicilian temples are far bigger than the Greek ones and, anyway, the Greeks themselves always adopted the Doric style (which makes them so menacing and unique) in Sicily… with a particular exception. Outside the Acropolis we can discover the Temple of Apollo. It is the most recent temple as well as one of the greatest and most impressive works of art; it wasn’t even finished when the city was destroyed. NEAR Selinunte. The port was located in the current area of MAZARA DEL VALLO (province of Trapani) and was previously called “porto Selinuntino” while the thermal baths of Selinunte were in the current area of SCIACCA (province of Agrigento). The CAVE DI CUSA (Cusa Caves): a very evocative site near Campobello di Mazara (province of Trapani); these are the ancient caves where blocks of rock had been extracted as building materials during the Greek period; these extractions ended as the Carthaginians occupied the city.

THE VALLEY OF THE TEMPLES – U.N.E.S.C.O World Heritage List
Temple of the Concord. It has been preserved amazingly well (almost undamaged). It is located at the centre of the Valley of the Temples and was erected in the 5th century BCE though it is not possible to say to which deity it was dedicated. The current name derives from a Latin inscription found nearby and it has nothing to do with its history. The temple, which was originally decorated with polychrome stuccos, features a hexastyle portico (six columns across) with 34 columns (20 flutings). The interior of the CELL has a IN ANTIS PRONAOS and OPISTHODOMOS structure (the columns on either side of the entrance and the exit of a Greek temple within the slightly projecting walls of the room). The temple’s roof has collapsed; on the eastern side two narrow spiral staircases leading over the roof are carved into the walls. In the 6th century, after modifications and destructions of the pagan structure, the CELL was turned into a CHRISTIAN CHURCH, more specifically a three naves basilica; only in the 18th century the temple was turned back into its previous structure. The “sagra del mandorlo in fiore” (“blossoming almond tree feast”) is set there every February as well as many international events (awards, fashion shows and more).

Temple of Juno. It shows only 25 columns of the original 34, while 9 are damaged, and is a bit lower than the Temple of the Concord. It was set on fire in 406 BCE by the Carthaginians and restored by the Romans; it collapsed partially during the Middle Age because of some earthquakes. Temple of Jupiter Olympic. It is the most important temple after those in Ephesus and Miletus. The works for its construction started in 480 BCE after the victory of Himera obtained with the support of the Carthaginian prisoners. It is 113 metres long and 53 metres large. The temple features a unique peculiarity: the TELAMONES (that were brought back to light during the archaeological excavations in 1926); these architectural figures, called atlantes by the Greeks, are decorative supports sculpted in the form of men, about 8 metres high, which take the place of the columns. Temple of Castor and Pollux or Temple of the Dioscuri (“sons of Zeus”). It was erected in the 5th century BCE with a very refined and complex Hellenistic entablature. It was partially destroyed by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE and presumably restored in the following centuries.

Sanctuary of the Chthonic deities. It was built between 480 BCE and 470 BCE on a prehistoric station and dedicated to the Earth deities: Demeter and Kore (Persephone). It features two round altars (instead of the ordinary rectangular one) and a small well in the centre showing the ancient worship of the waters. It houses the remains of four temples. Temple of Hercules. It was erected in the 6th century on the highest area of the temples’ street and is one of the most ancient in the valley. It features a hexastyle portico (six columns across and 15 on the sides) and is the only that maintains an archaic look on the lateral columns (PTERA). The plan is very extended, 74 metres long and 28 metres large and belongs to the archaic period; the temple is decorated with facings, statues and paintings. Only 8 columns (4 with capitol) of the original 38 still remain. Temple of Demeter (inside the ancient walls). Almost nothing of this temple is still visible, but the ruins of the fortified walls where the main entrance to the ancient town was situated. Temple of Demeter (outside the walls). It is the most ancient (it dates back to the 7th century BCE) and shows the worship of the waters too.

Temple of Vulcan. Only two columns remain of this ancient Doric building and they can be seen far from the lowest area of the Valley. Obviously the city was transformed or modified according to the new colonizers’ needs, during the Roman period; the remaining buildings of this period in the Valley are: 1) the THEATRE AREA which includes the CAVEA (or EKKLESIASTIRION), carved in the rock and dating to the 3rd century BCE (it used to be an assembly cavea and is the only civil building left in the ancient Agrigento); 2) PHALARIS ORATORY, that is believed to be a Roman “matrona”’s memorial tomb (1st century BCE); actually it is a small temple, belonging to a sanctuary which rose there, that was turned into a Chapel during the Middle Age. HELLENISTIC-ROMAN CITY. It is an impressive inhabited centre (10,000 metres) that rose in the second half of the 4th century BCE upon ancient ruins and lasted until the 4th-5th century. It was planned by Hippodamus of Miletus, with large and straight streets, luxury houses of many shapes, some with a Hellenistic columned porch (peristyle) and others with an italic atrium, aqueducts carved in the rock, wide sewage systems, capacious tanks, warehouses, workshops, root canal treatments and taverns.

The MOST INTERESTING HOUSES are: the peristyle house, the swastikas houses, the eastern master house; they had mosaic pavements and stucco walls, decorated with flower and geometric patterns. Indeed they all date to the 1st-2nd century BCE presumably. It is important to remember that temples were originally 20 even though only 6 are left. The Agrigento ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM is very important and houses a huge number of finds and ruins retrieved in the Valley of the Temples and in the areas in the province of Enna and Caltanissetta. There are also finds of Agrigento during the prehistoric age and the Necropolis in the archaic-Greek period, Greek-Italiotes vases and attics, statues of the Chthonic deities and more. The building includes the Monastry of San Nicola which shows medieval mullioned windows with two lights (with a zigzag decoration).

ERACLEA MINOA (province of Agrigento). It was an ancient Selinunte colony, founded by the Spartans in the 6th century BCE, that took its name from and in praise of Heracles. It is situated near CAPO BIANCO (prov. of Agrigento). The GREEK THEATRE with 6 wedges and the close Greek-Roman excavation site are very recommended to visit.

TAORMINA (province of Messina) – The THEATRE. It is a beautiful example of the Hellenic art and shows the immortal beauty and mystic serenity canons which are typical of the Greek artists. These latter took into account  the pureness and the solemnity which can be still found in the western civilization. It is the biggest theatre after Syracuse’ and mixes amazingly the two reasons of its edification: the aesthetic and functional architecture research. It is located on a high hill overlooking the town, plunged in and facing the beautiful sea and Mount Etna landscape. The theatre was erected by the Greeks in 360 BCE, but the Romans restructured it (above all the upper part of the pit) in the 2nd century AD: the stage was moved forward and enclosed by a high scenography wall with two series of columns; moreover it was decorated with a porch that is also the centrepiece, eliminating so the natural background conceived by the Greeks. Only few elements remain from the original structure such as part of the orchestra (pit) and the aisle that crosses it (it was the actors’ entrance and it has hydraulic engineering features as all the theatres which were restructured or built by the Romans). It was used for religious ceremonies, dramas and public conventions. Today it is the evocative set of many summer shows and events, as well as cinema events and classical, pop and rock concerts. The theatre holds about 5,400 people, its diameter is 109 metres long and the pit is 36 metres long. The CAVEA, built on a natural concave ground area, is divided into 9 seats reached by 8 staircases; 5 horizontal aisles separate the seats (some were recently restored), which were tiers of benches.

The ENCLOSING WALLS on the outside had 8 gates leading to the staircases and alternated with statues located into niches. The cavea was surrounded by a double portico. A females only gallery was located under the vault of the inner portico, while a higher gallery for the plebs was situated under the vault of the outer portico. The STAGE featured a high wall with three doors alternated with statues located into niches and was preceded by a portico with 9 columns. A second row of 16 Corinthian columns was built right next to the first one to decorate the stage. The columns we can still see were temporarily moved and restored in the 19th century.

The STAGE WALL features a big screen on each side (paraskena) meant for the decorations and the actors. Only the stage wall is partially left; the PULPITUM or stage was eliminated when the Romans build the new stage in order to turn the theatre into an amphitheatre; a PODIUM was erected to protect the audience from the show dangers (such as gladiators and naumachia). It is possible to notice an aisle with no vaults all around the cavea and the lower area of the seats. The audience used to go to the tiers of benches and the balconies are reached by a staircase leading to three floors. The little museum (ANTIQUARIUM), next to the theatre, houses the remains and relics of Taormina.

NAXOS (province of Messina). It is the most ancient Greek colony in Sicily and was founded in 738 by the Chalcidians who also erected there a temple dedicated to their patron god, Apollo. In 403 BCE Naxos was destroyed by Dionysius of Syracuse and disappeared from history. The EXCAVATIONS started at the end of the 1960s and brought the ancient walls, the gates and a Sacred Area with the basement of a temple back to light. The museum (ANTIQUARIUM) in Capo Schisò contains the archaeological retrievals.

TINDARI (province of Messina, 280 metres a.s.l.). It was founded by Dionysius I of Syracuse I 396 BCE; the city was allied to the Romans on the Punic Wars and then it became very thriving during the Imperial Age. Pliny wrote that in the 1st century a part of the Acropolis collapsed and crumbled to the sea. Later Tindari was besieged by the Saracens. The archaeological area: The GREEK THEATRE dates to the 3rd or 2nd century BCE and was restructured in the Roman age; the CAVEA is divided into 11 areas with 28 tiers of benches; some architectural elements of the Stage with three doors from the Greek period are still left, as well as the GYMNASIUM. The INSULAE or group of noble houses and tabernae (single room shops) can be reached walking down to the sea. Even here a little museum houses the archaeological finds and remains of the area. SANCTUARY. It was an inspiring site for one of the main Sicilian poets, Salvatore Quasimodo (see the poem “A Tindari”),

CATANIA The Roman city has mostly lasted below many lava stone strata extending throughout the whole historic centre of Catania far to Lago di Nicito. THE THEATRE. THE AMPHITHEATRE. THE BATHS. THE HYPOGEA.

The CAVEA was built on Temanite hill for its enchanting view over the sea. Today only the structures carved in the rock are left as the upper part of the cavea and the stage (all built with stone blocks) were moved to erect the fortified walls of Ortigia by Charles V. Further damages were caused by Marquis Gaetani (mills constructions) in the 16th century. The first important works to remove all the stones, the materials and the mills which covered  and damaged the structure started in the 18th century thanks to a private initiative. The theatre has a diameter of 138 metres (the one in Athens is 100 metres long); the CAVEA features 60 rows of steps, a capacity of 15,000 and it is divided into two horizontal areas and into 9 vertical sectors with 8 wedges named after the deities or the royal families. A series of holes in the highest rows of steps was presumably used to insert the pole of the covering veils.

The DIAZOMA (a passage which divided the auditorium longitudinally at about the middle), almost lacking of flights of steps, was built with chalky stone blocks which were removed in the modern age. The theatre also has 12 rows of seats in the lower area down to the orchestra (they must be covered with other materials). A sort of Central Stand, reserved to very important people, was carved in the rock in the space between the 4th and the 6th seats. The differences of position and space in the structure of this lowest area were meant to distinguish people by social classes. Some small marble slabs and fragments of terracotta tiles are the remains of larger slabs which paved the ORCHESTRA PIT, that is the semicircular area where the altar of Dionysus was originally and where the chorus was.

The ORCHESTRA features two draws on both sides for the meteoric waters, while a third cut is assumed to be either a previous one (trapezoidal cavea) or, apparently, an engineering system for the orchestra in case of aquatic shows. The area of the stage-set and the scenery reveal only traces of their construction phases and therefore the different adapting changes according to the performances’ needs. Indeed the THEATRE was RESTRUCTURED by the ROMANS for very famous gladiators, beasts and naval combat shows. On the top, two porticos, which are no longer existing, hold the audience in case of storms. In the same area the NYMPHS GROTTO (waterfall) was meant to optimize the acoustics. The votive niches, where Muses statues were found, next to this, on the rocky side. In the NEAPOLIS, over the theatre, are the LATOMIE DEL PARADISO (stone quarries) composed by the ORECCHIO DI DIONISIO (Ear of Dyonisus), the GROTTA DEI CORDARI  and the GROTTA DEI CAPPUCCINI. In 1693, after their vault’s collapse, they were into a garden.

THE ALTAR OF HIERO. It is situated near the lower exit of the theatre and is a huge rectangular altar (199 x 23 metres), built by the tyrant Hiero II in the 3rd century BCE for the public sacrifices. TEMPLE OF JUPITER. Outside the Archaeological Park and not far from Castello Eurialo, are an altar and one side of what is assumed to be the Temple of Jupiter. TEMPLE OF APOLLO. The Temple of Apollo is located at the entrance of Ortigia, face to the bridge that connects the mainland to the island. What is still left are two columns, few elements of the entablature and a part of the southern wall of the cell. They are the remains of the most ancient Doric temple in the Western Greek world (6th century BCE). It featured 6 columns on the front and 17 on the sides (hexastyle in antis), and was built with a chalky stone, which is typical of the Syracuse area, called “Giuggiulena”.

RUINS OF THE IONIC TEMPLE. The only Ionic traces in Sicily can be found in the basement of the Palazzo del Senato (Piazza Duomo), they are part of the temple’s foundations (it must be 59 metres long and 25 metres large). CASTELLO EURIALO AND MURA DIONIGIANE (Dionysius’ walls). The Castello Eurialo (Euryalus Castle) was erected on the vast chalky terrace extending from Belvedere to the sea (and where it is assumed there were beaches in the past), in an area called EPIPOLI; the castle, rising on the highest region (12o metres above sea level), was a massive and extraordinary fortress from the 5th century BCE; indeed the WALLS, previously built in the plain, showed Syracuse was defenceless from this point.

The defending wall was erected by the Greeks while the other defending works were made by Syracuse people. The walls were 27 km long and enclosed the whole terrace of the Epipoli, and down to Ortigia. 60,000 farmers and 6,000 yokes were necessary to build the fortress; there was an architect directing every phase of the works and 200 workers for every mason. It has a particular pointed shape and it seems its name means nail head from the Greek Euryalos. SCALA GRECA (Greek Stairway). The highest area of the chalky Syracuse plateau is reached from Castello Eurialo to Viale Scala Greca, near the 114 road entrance.

There was situated the EXAPYLON, a titanic entrance with 6 gates that was one of the most impressive fortification works of the ancient world; the Romans passed from this point to the city, climbing the wall and ending their long and exhausting assault; today the Exapylon is no longer existing while the Greek Wall is still visible even if it looks like a ladder for its several collapsed parts. See in the same are the TROGYLON, porto Canale di S. Panagia (place of cult);

the Greek necropolis, from the classical and Hellenistic age, where precious set of vases, gold items, remains of aedicule and red figured ceramics were retrieved. The presence of an important suburban Sanctuary, dedicated to Artemis (Diana), gave us a lot of images of this Goddess. SYRACUSAN FORUM. It extends along the road leading from the Scala Greca (Greek Stairway) back to Syracuse; the ancient Agora rose in the area called “Pozzo ingegnere”. Hypodrome.

GELA (province of Caltanissetta). It was founded in the 6th century by the Creteses. ACROPOLIS AND WALLS. The most beautiful wall in Sicily is still so well preserved for it was covered by a dune in ancient times. It extends northwards  for 300 m., parallel to the sea, up to 8 m high in some areas. The excavations started in 1901 and the finds and remains were originally brought to the Museum of Syracuse. Few decades later, in 1958, the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF GELA opened near the original area of the Acropolis and it houses a huge number of archaeological finds even though it was sacked in 1972. The site were the Acropolisi and the Museum rise is called “Mulino a vento” (windmill). The remains of two temples which were brought to light are in Doric style. 

MORGANTINA (province of Enna). One of the most important archaeological sites in centre-eastern Sicily, also featuring an important museum, is situated 4 km from Aidone (province of Enna). Indeed, the Acropolis was inhabited by the Sicels (Bronze age), Greeks (6th-5th century BCE) and Romans. The most relevant remains date back to the Sicel and Roman period. The area of the ancient site is divided into 5 smaller ones, in addiction to the CITADEL and the NECROPOLIS. The CITADEL. Once you enter the excavation site, you are in the GYMNASIUM and, on the right, in the BOULEUTERION, the building which housed the council of citizens.

On to the centre, through the STADIUM (about 90 m long and previously covered by a portico), you will reach the MACELLUM, a sort of forerunner of the modern supermarkets. On the left is the STOA, a bureaucracy  building which also housed the tribunal. Next to the Stoa is a stairway and farther on a two basins CELEBRATIVE FOUNTAIN in praise of the nymphs. South rises the very evocative SANCTUARY OF DEMETRA AND KORE. It is preceed by a pond for the purification rites and a small room for donations. It includes different areas for the stop of the worshippers and for the making of terracotta votive objects.

Inside the Temple there is a CYLINDRICAL ALTAR, still covered by some traces of the original plaster, and the BUTHROS, a sacred pit to offer sacrifices the netherworld deities. The THEATRE is right of the Temple. It is formed with 5 WEDGES and dedicated to Dionysus, whose name also appears on one of the steps; it still has surprising acoustics. Next to the theatre you will see the Hellenistic workshops, while on the other side, on a higher terrace, the houses of the most powerful men of the city still rise (the foundations and the mosaics of the CASA DEL SALUTO and the CASA DI GANIMEDE are the most remarkable remains). The Roman civilization ruins inside the Citadel are the best preserved; an excellent WATER NETWORK and two kilns for bricks are just two examples. Most important, it was entirely built and restored with local stones, except for a mill in lava stone from the Hellenistic period (on the right of the Gymnasium)

On the top of MONTE SABBUCCINA, 6 km from CALTANISSETTA, rises a SICANIAN-GREEK centre which has been brought to light almost completely (the excavations are in progress); CAPANNE PREISTORICHE are close to titanic GREEK WALLS and ruins of the inhabited centre (6th-4th century BCE).
Another Greek centre, MOTYION, is situated near VASSALLAGGI. The remains found are displayed in the Museum of Agrigento.

centro , quasi completamente riportato alla luce (scavi tutt'ora in corso); vicino a resti di  si