NECROPOLI DI PANTALICA
Pantalica is home to the largest necropolis in the Mediterranean basin. This impressive site has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Pre-dating the Greek colonization of Sicily and built by the natives, it contains over 5,000 tombs dug into the rock face in a multitude of small artificial caves, making it resemble an enormous beehive.
It is assumed that the rock was dug by workers suspended from ropes at the top of the walls, as there is no direct access. The northern tombs date from the First Bronze Age (13th-11th centuries BC), while those to the south date from the Third Bronze Age (9th-8th centuries BC). The only evidence of non-rock construction in the complex is provided by the remains of Anaktoron, located on the southern slope of the high plateau; this was probably a fortified royal palace that must have been part of a monumental complex. It was built with large blocks stacked one on top of the other in the Mycenaean style.
Some of the larger tombs, the cameroni, were later transformed into dwellings in Byzantine times, as two small Byzantine churches with remains of frescoes painted on the stone walls can be found. Of the 5,000 tombs, only a few hundred have been found intact, with bones and objects inside. The bulk of these discoveries can be found in the Paolo Orsi Museum, which discovered the site at the very beginning of the 20th century.
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