MORGANTINA
sicilia
The archaeological site of Morgantina is located near the town of Aidone, in the Province of Enna. The earliest major settlement was made at Cittadella and lasted from about 1000/900 to about 450 BC. The other major settlement was located on Serra Orlando, and existed from about 450 BC to about 50 BC. According to Strabo, Morgantina was founded by a pre-Roman Italian group known as the Morgeti. The earliest historical date associated with Morgantina is 459 BC, when Douketios, leader of the indigenous Sikel population of central Sicily, attacked the city and captured it. Morgantina was probably still under Douketios' control when he was defeated at Nomai by Syracuse in 449 BC. No further mention of Morgantina is made until Thucydides lists it as part of the terms of a truce in the war of 427/424 BC between Syracuse and the Dorian cities of Sicily on one side, and Kamarina, the Khalkidian cities of Sicily, the Sikels, and Athens on the other side. The final mention of Morgantina comes again from Strabo, who notes that in his own time, the I century BC, the city had ceased to exist.
Very important are the ruins of the Greek Theatre, the "Macellum", and luxury examples of houses with mosaics on floors (for example the Ganimede's House). A museum was opened in Aidone in 1980 to house finds from Morgantina. The building, dating from the XVII century, is a former Capuchin monastery. There are two floors of exhibits, covering the site's prehistoric, archaic, and classical periods, along with a thematic dispay that draws attention to aspects of ancient daily life.
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