PARCO ARCHEOLOGICO DI SELINUNTE

It is divided into three parts that can be connected on foot, by little train or even by car. The plateau of Marinella is the area known as the area of the oriental temples, designated by letters, because it was impossible to prove with certainty to which deity they were dedicated and therefore to give them a name (too bad for the lack of poetry). The only one that still stands on its columns is Temple E, dating from the^5th century BC. Its characteristics (order, harmony, proportion, symmetry) make it one of the most emblematic examples of Doric architecture in Sicily. Originally, it had figurative metopes that decorated the pediment (these, exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Palermo, suggest that the temple was dedicated to Athena). As for temple G, in ruins, it must have been enormous, certainly the largest in Sicily, with its columns 16 m high and 10 m in diameter. The acropolis was originally surrounded by a massive surrounding wall. Between 580 and 409 B.C., a period of prosperity for the city, the acropolis was the centre of public, civil and religious life and was embellished by numerous buildings.

The south-eastern quarter was occupied by the two temples A and O dating from 480 BC. Dwellings found in this area attest to the dual function, public and private, of the temple. There are also the remains of two other temples, one called the Megaron or Temple Y, considered to be the first built in Selinunte, and Temple B with its Ionic columns, which places it in the Hellenistic period. In the centre stands the grandiose Temple C, with its 14 columns, begun in 560 BC, partially rebuilt in 1939 and probably dedicated to Demeter or Heracles. Further north, temple D can be seen.

Going down towards the beach, along a long path that stands out to the south-west of the acropolis, one reaches the sanctuary of Malophoros (which means "the apple bearer") where 12,000 terracotta statuettes, small altars (testimonies of Punic religious rites) and vases have been found.

Good to know: you can take the car from the parking lot to take the road inside the complex that leads to the Malophoros sanctuary by the sea. There is also a small paying train inside the site. On foot, it takes at least 30 minutes through the hills. Remember to take a good pair of sneakers and water for this nice hike.