SELINUNTE
sicilia
Selinunte is an ancient Greek archaeological site situated on the south coast of Sicily between the valleys of the rivers Belice and Modione in the province of Trapani. It was one of the most important of the Greek colonies in Sicily. It was founded by a colony from Sicilian city of Megara, or Megara Hyblaea. The date of it foundation cannot be precisely fixed but it may be placed about 628 BC. The name is supposed to have been derived from the quantities of wild celery which grew on the spot; and for the same reason a leaf of this celery was adopted as the symbol of their coins. Selinus was the most westerly of the Greek colonies in Sicily, and for this reason was early brought into contact and collision with the Carthaginians and the native Sicilians in the west and northwest of the island. The former people, however, do not at first seem to have offered any obstacle to their progress; but as early as 580 BC we find the Selinuntines engaged in hostilities with the people of Segesta (a non-Hellenic city), whose territory bordered on their own. In 416 BC, a renewal of the old disputes between Selinus and Segesta became the occasion of the great Athenian expedition to Sicily. In 409 BC Selinunte was destroyed by the Carthaginians. After it was rebuilt by Greek and Punic colonies. In 250 BC the Romans destroyed definitively the city. It seems certain that it was never rebuilt. The archaeological site of Selinunte is one of the widest and most imposing in Europe. The sculptures found here are housed especially in the Archaeological Museum of Palermo, with the exception of the most famous work, the Ephebos of Selinunte, that is showed in the Museum of Castelvetrano.
The archaeological park of Selinunte contains seven temples, centered on an acropolis, named with letters of the alphabet, as the divinities they were dedicated to has yet to be deciphered. Materials used for the construction of the temples were extracted from the so-called "Cave di Cusa", 13 kilometres from Selinunte. The stone quarries are worth a visit as they give an indication of the resources that the people took advantage of, and the resources they themselves controlled as they managed to transport massive blocks of stone over considerable distances. Of seven temples only the Temple E, the so-called "Temple of Hera", has been re-erected. The area of Selinunte can be divided in three main areas: the Acropolis, the East Hill and the Sanctuary of Malophoros.
The Acropolis
The Acropolis lies on a low terrace 50 metres above sea level between the rivers Selinus (Modione) and Hypsas (Cottone) to the east. The site of the acropolis is particularly fit for defence. It is fenced in by parametrical walls, with regular rows of sandstone blocks following the edge of the hill for about five kilometres. These huge walls were constructed in 409 BC when the city was assailed by the Carthaginians, in an attempt to salvage a limited area of the old city. The Acropolis has a hypodermic grid plan, an orthogonal crossroad system suitable for flat terrain. Between 580 and 409 BC the acropolis was very rich, becoming a centre of religious, public and political life. The south-eastern side of the acropolis was the Punic quarter, the Carthaginians' houses were very humble consisting of only two or three rooms. The religious symbols in the Punic mosaic are however extremely elaborate and interesting. Immediately after the enter there are the Temples A and O. Various scholars attribute these temples to Castor and Pollux, the two brothers Leda's sons and Tindaro's one and Zeus' the other. Pollux had by the father Zeus the gift of the immortality and asked to the god to be able to share it with the dear brother; so Zeus decided that the two brothers became two stars: the same stars that in the zodiac have the name of Twins. Because the Temples were sacred to the two brothers, the Temple A and the Temple O are identical. Going ahead there are the ruins of the Temple B. It is a small temple, without columns, consisting of a small naos with an entrance leading into it. The oldest metopes, stone-carved panels depicting various scenes from Greek mythology, are thought to have belonged to this temple.
One of the most ancient temples in the acropolis is the Temple C, built around the 580 BC. The Temple was probably dedicated to Apollo, god of oracles and health. The Temple C is located on the highest point of the acropolis. It presently consists of only 12 standing columns, which were re-erected in the 1920s. Like the other temples, the Temple C is facing eastwards in accordance with Greek and Roman liturgy. Religious statues were to look at the rising sun, the origin of light and life, never the sunset that represented darkness and death. Near this temple we find the Temple D, the second temple of the acropolis in chronological order, built around the 560 BC. Even if smaller than the Temple C, it keeps many characteristics of this. However between the Temple C and the Temple D it is possible to note the technical progress and the tendency of modernization followed by Selinunte. Some scholars attribute this temple to Zeus while others to Aphrodite.
The East Hill
In this area there are the temples named E, F and G. Like the temples of the acropolis, the temples on the east hill are of Doric architecture and are facing eastwards too.
The Temple E is one of Selinunte's most charming in which Greek art displays all its beauty and brilliance. It is the most southern of the group and the most recent of all the temples in Selinunte. It was constructed in 460 BC, but was in a heavily destroyed state when excavated in the 1920s. It was rebuilt in the end of 1950s. Studies have found that the temple was dedicated to Hera, the Roman Juno, protector of marriages. For its characters of style, harmony, proportion, symmetry, it is classified as one of the best examples of Doric architecture in Sicily. The Temple F is the smaller of the group and is in the centre. It is also the most ancient, in fact it was built around the 530 BC, immediately after the construction of the Temple C. Many scholars attribute the Temple F to Athena, favourite Zeus' daughter and goddess of heroic endeavour.
The last temple of the area is the Temple G that, for its dimensions (50m x 100m), is one of the biggest among the Greek temples. This enormous dimensions expressed themselves the wild and passionate Sicilian character, but they are not part of the architectonic Greek cultural, where it was unthinkable go over the so-defined "right measurement". Probably sacred to Zeus, it was built from the 530 BC but it was never finished. In fact there were still works when in 409 BC Selinunte was destroyed by the Carthaginians, as some finds of columns without flutting testify. Even if not finished, this great project shows that the civilization of Selinunte had reached a certainty and mastery in the architectonical sphere, to be able to face up the various technical problems relating the construction of a building of vast dimensions, without previous examples or experiences in the Doric style.
The Sanctuary of Malophoros
Going down in the valley and passed the little bridge on the Modione river, we go up on the Gaggera Hill where we can find the ruins of the Sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros, whose faith, together with that of the daughter Persephone, was very widespread in Sicily. The temple was so named because here were found various little statues in terracotta all representing a female divinity.
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