The ancient city of Selinunte

In the southwest zone of the Sicily, at about 13 Kms from the village of Castelvetrano, the ruins of the ancient city of Selinunte appear with all their magnificence.

Selinunte was founded by the Doric population, around the half of the VII century b.C. and it was destroyed by the Carthaginian in the 409 a.C.

The main activities of Selinunte population was agriculture, maritime commerce and handicraft. The city reached its greater fortune after the 508 a.C.

Still today, despite is reduced in ruins, it shows its great impressiveness thanks to the presence of immense blocks of forged stone, witnesses of its ancient cultural and economic importance.



Selinunte is disposed as follows:

• In the lower part, there are three Doric temples


• On the upper part, surrounded by fortifications, there are the remains of the Acropolis: a former inhabited centre, cut by perpendicular roads. In proximity, there are other buildings: the A, B, C, D, O temples and the megaron.


• On the hill of Manuzza, there was a big build-up area, populated by nearly 80.000 people.


• Beyond Modione river, there was a sacred area, where the ruins of a sanctuary devoted to the goddess Malophoros are still present. In addition, there are the ruins of the M temple and the rests of a small temple that recently has been discovered.
  

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