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Would you think Sicily is home to some of the most impressive and well -preserved Greek ruins outside Greece? Let me answer that question with this guide to visit Archaeological Selinunte Park!
The southern coast of Sicily is surprisingly the home of not one, but two of the most incredible Greek ruins that you have ever seen. The ancient Greeks extended their civilization through the Mediterranean and, fortunately, the ruins of two of their colonies both in Selinunte and in the Valley of Temples in Agrigento have resisted the test of time. Both archaeological sites now contain some of the best preserved Greek temples outside Athens.
While the Temples Valley is the most popular, with many hikers of the cruise ships, I have to ask me if this has been thanks to intelligent marketing. Certainly, the guides we talked to could have so much …
From what I have seen, the valley of the temples is beautiful and clearly a must, but I am here to tell you everything about the Selinunte archaeological park; The largest archaeological park in Europe.
A guide to visit Archaeological Selinunte Park
HISTORY
The old city of Selinunte dates back to approximately 628 a. C. And it was one of Sicily’s most important cities, only surpassed by Palermo. With importance, money came and the ancient Greeks used it wisely; Build no less than seven temples dedicated to gods and goddesses, including Aphrodite and Zeus. One of the temples, temple C dates back to around 560-550 a. C.!
At its peak, Selinunte would probably have been the home of around 30,000 inhabitants before the Carthaginians destroy it after its acquisition in 409 a. C. Unfortunately, it seems that the city was never rebuilt and lay in ruins more or less as seen today.
Two interesting final events, before analyzing what you can expect to find in the archaeological park of Selinunte, they are that, first, Selinunte means ‘celery’ and the recent archaeological work has found that the largest agora of the old world (something like a square of the city or open space) is right here: 33,000 square meters!
The temples ‘this’
Archaeological Selinunte Park is home to at least seven temples, within 270 hectares, built in the Greek Doric style, although only one, temple and stand. The rest is in ruins in some way or another, but, again, it is still quite impressive.
Upon entering the park, you will naturally wander to the impressive temple and with its old columns in almost perfect conditions. However, a controversial decision meant that the temple E is actually a reconstructed version of the original. At its peak, the temple would have been painted with beautiful colors even though what we see seems large enough.
Behind the temple and are the ruins collapsed of both the F and G temple, each more monumental than the previous one. While the temple G was probably never completed, the fourth largest Doric temple in the Greek world (the second largest in Sicily!) Would still be considered. What a view would have been navigate to Sicily with these temples that rise on the cliffs. We were able to throw on the blocks and columns in ruins as part of our guided tour. Our guide stopped next to one of the remaining vertical columns that gave a great direction of scale; Until they told us that in reality the total height would probably have been around 30 meters. That is huge!
The acropolis
A short train trip from the Temples Earth this is the acropolis and the remains of a bustling Cartaginian city. There are the ruins of four additional Greek temples here with palm trees.
The temples were more impressive, probably obviously given the reconstruction of the temple and, but it was great to walk through the old streets of the city imagining how life could have been so many thousands of years ago.
Key information
You can access the Selinunte Archaeological Park for only € 6 per person and is better visited with a rental car; There is a great parking lot on the site. It will take about an hour of Trapani and an hour and a half of Palermo. From Selinunte, you can also get to Agrigento in just over an hour.
If you trust public transport, the best way to get to the park is to take a Trapani or Palermo train to Castelvetrano, which is then linked by bus. The bus takes the 30 -minute region and, from the delivery point, is just a short walk to the entrance. This type of trip will take some preparation work, but you will find the current schedule (November 2023) for the Marinella di Selinute service here.
For those who disguise themselves a little along with some food and drink, look only like Porto’s gelateria inside the park. Wait impressive views along the coast, as well as a refreshing granite and zingy (the flavor of lemon help to the sun!) And icy beer!
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