Selinunte, Ancient Greek archaeological park in Castelvetrano, Italy
Selinunte is an archaeological park in Castelvetrano that covers 270 hectares (667 acres) between the Modione-Selino and Cottone rivers and includes numerous temple complexes, residential quarters, and fortification remains. The ruins spread across several hills, with the eastern hills and the acropolis forming the main zones containing the largest preserved Doric columns and foundations.
Selinunte was founded around 628 BC by colonists from Megara Hyblaea under Pammilus, though Diodorus gives 650 BC. Carthaginian forces under Hannibal Mago took the city in 409 BC after a nine-day siege, killing 16,000 and enslaving 5,000. Survivors rebuilt it with Hermocrates of Syracuse, walling only the acropolis. Carthage evacuated the population to Lilybaeum in 250 BC during the First Punic War, and the city was never reoccupied.
The settlement takes its name from wild celery that once grew along the two rivers and became the emblem of the city. Visitors today walk among open temple ruins spread across different hills, which show how residents oriented their religious buildings eastward to receive the rising sun.
Exploring the grounds takes about three hours, with an electric train available to carry visitors between the widely spaced zones if the distances feel too long. Paths across the hills are uneven in places, so sturdy shoes work better for anyone walking between the temples and the acropolis on foot.
The Cave di Cusa quarries, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) away, still show half-finished column sections lying in the rock that were never transported after workers fled. These abandoned pieces reveal how stonemasons carved the giant blocks from the limestone bed before the siege interrupted their work.
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