I always wonder how it was possible so long time ago to construct so enormous buildings. They are simply super huge!
Selinunte was definitevely on my list when traveling to Sicily. On the way from Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples to Palermo Selinunte was right on the way.
Selinunte one was a flourishing city with more than 30.000 inhabitants – slaves excluded. It was founded in the mid 7th century BC by Megara Hyblaea (at the east coast near to Syracuse) people. They lived a peaceful live at the side of Punic people. A century later the whole city was re-organized with a good grid street system and residential houses in between. Main streets paved with large blocks, and buildings and houses seemed to be monumental made with sophisticated building techniques. The agorà was the city and administration center and the temples were built in each cardinal direction. Around 409 BC Carthaginians attack the city and destroy most of it. A year later the Syracuse Ermocrate fortified the city with walls. Later in was under Punic occupation and in 250 BC the city was abandoned. During the Byzantine and Arab period the city was again fortified and in use but definitively abandoned under the Swabian times.
Today the archeological park is part of the municipality Castelvetrano. It has five temples centered on the acropolis. No temple is complete but one, the Temple of Hera or Temple E which was re-erected. The city is situated on a hill overlooking the sea.
For visitors it has two parts to go to. The first one has two temples, one is the Hera Temple. It is huge, mega enormous. My imagination is too small to understand how they could erect something like this. Real Greek style the temples have high columns that became slowly narrower to the top. They are topped by enormous blocks that once hold a roof made of wood and tiles.
The other temple was completely destroyed by an earthquake. It looked like a giant had run his fist in it, maybe out of rage about the people not believing in him but other Gods.
We were lucky it didn’t rain in that moment, perfect to have a good look from here also towards the acropolis on another hill. There we could see only the columns of another temple which would be in the agorà, the city center.
Just on the 2 minutes drive from one site to the other it started to rain heavy. We started to have a look but with the rain and a lot of wind we let it go. Pity, because it would have been a great addition to the first temples we had seen. There is a small museum where we could see also a famous statue, the Ephebe of Selinus.
This was unfortunately not such a lucky day like the others before we had always the possibilities to do sight seeing without rain. For me especially that I want to shoot some photos it’s very hard to hold an umbrella in one hand and shoot with the other. So.. forget it.. let’s see what the last days hold for us!
Selinunte, Sicily/Italy:
For further information:
Website about Sicily
Selinunte
