Greek Life in Selinunte

Selinunte, Sicily  Wednesday, April 27, 2016

The ancient Greeks had a significant presence in Sicily, one that can be felt today in ruins that stretch from coast to coast on this island.  The westernmost outpost of the Greek World was their colony at Selinus -- today's Selinunte -- settled in the 7th century BC.  Before the Carthaginians conquered it in 409 BC, killing 16,000 inhabitants in the process, it was one of the most important cities in the world. It was largely destroyed during the first Punic War, about 250 BC, when the Romans conquered most of Sicily.

The ruins at Selinunte are now the site of ongoing archaeological research and restoration.  They occupy two high bluffs above the Mediterranean; the valley between was once a harbor, now silted over.  The valley, like every place in the archaeological complex, is full of grasses and wildflowers in gorgeous spring bloom.

The deities honored at each of the temples in the complex have, as yet, been lost to history, so the temple ruins have been given letter designations.  The most completely restored is Temple E, and its columns stand tall on one hill, next to the jumble of pillars, pediments, and altar stones of Temples F and G, which was one of the largest temples ever built by the Greeks. We were free to walk through the ruins, climbing on the blocks and stones that lay everywhere.  Somehow, what looks to us like a giant jigsaw puzzle (without the all-important photo showing just how it all should look with the pieces in place) makes sense to the archaeologists who pretty much know how each of the temples looked.  There were plenty of diagrams and descriptive plaques to help visitors envision what the experts have discovered.

We walked across the valley to the acropolis, urban area, and city walls on the second promontory.  One wall of Temple C  has been reconstructed, but there and elsewhere it was easy to see how columns had toppled, their segmented drums spilled out like dominoes in a row.  We walked among what was left of other temples, the houses of one of the urban neighborhoods, and along the defensive fortifications, all the while enjoying the views of Temple E across the valley and the sea below the complex.

En route back to Marsala, we drove around Mazara del Vallo, the most important fishing port in Sicily.  The narrow, winding streets of the old town center are a remnant of the original Arabs who settled there for 250 years, prior to a Norman conquest in 1075.

Tonight, we went out for our own passeggiata, explored some parts of the old town we had not seen last night, and enjoyed the quiet streets as the shops closed down and the lovely cathedral piazza after dark.