Selinunte and Segesta are the most ancient Greek settlements in Sicily. The first one is located in the southwestern area, in the district of Trapani. This settlement has been included in the town of Castelvetrano. Segesta, instead, lies in the northwestern zone, near the modern town of Calatafimi, always in the district or province of Trapani. Selinunte and Segesta share nearly the same border and they only are at a distance of 30 kilometers from each other. Today they are regarded as the most beautiful and interesting Greek settlements which contain temples, necropolis, statues and ruins better preserved than the one that are in Greece.
If you want to dive yourself in the glorious past of the ancient Greece, you shouldn’t go to Athens, but to these two breathtaking settlements. Selinunte has five important temples called through the alphabet letters because many scholars are still today trying to spot the right attribution of the same temples. Segesta has only a magnificent temple in Doric style. Selinunte and Segesta have also a history that is very similar to the one between Athens and Troy. The ancient inhabitants of the two settlements were called Selinuntines and Segestans. To tell the truth, the real Greek colony was the one of Selinunte.
Many Greeks, indeed, settled down not only in Syracuse and Agrigento, but also in the zone that today it is called Trapani. In Segesta, in reality, lived one Sicilian indigenous community, called Elymians. Sicily has indeed had, three indigenous people: Elymians, Sicans and Sicels. These people inhabited Sicily in the pre Hellenic epoch. In Segesta, the inhabitants were strongly influenced by the culture Greek and Hellenic and this influence led to a persistent hostility with the real Greek settlement of Selinunte. The latter lived alternate times of prosperity and tyranny due to the Greek despots.
However the Selinuntians owned a powerful army, while the Segestians, a great skill to trade overseas. These two differences also caused the hostility I mentioned above, a contrast that very soon resulted in a bloody war. Both Selinuntians and Segestians wanted to take over a port in the Tyrrhenian Sea. To defeat the Selinuntians, the Segestians also asked for the intervention of the Athenians first and later of the Carthaginians. The Selinuntians had only the help from Syracuse. The expedition of the Athenians in Sicily happened in 416 BC, but didn’t lead to salvation for the Segestians that remained to the mercy of their rivals.
And it was for this reason the Segestians called for the help of the Carthaginians, who at the beginning, dominated , enslaved and imprisoned the Selinuntians and later, during the first Punic war, destroyed entirely this settlement, while the survivors escaped to Agrigento and Gela. Despite this great victory, Segestians didn’t have a long history of power and prosperity because probably they were assimilated to the Romans or other Sicilian people. Anyway, what has today remained in Selinunte and Segesta is absolutely to see and admire. In Selinunte, that lies beside the sea, between the Valley of Belice, where, amid the hills, a river runs, there are five temples placed on an acropolis and three on a hill.
Among these, the most magnificent is the one of Hera, also called the temple E ( see the image) . This temple was rebuilt between 1956 and 1959. It dates back to the 460-450 BC. This temple, has two lines of high , magnificent columns split by a likewise large hallway where you can also walk and admire drawings and images and mosaics depicting the ancient Greek habits. Some scenes, also include the wedding of Hera or Aphrodite and Apollo, where the main protagonists and attendants are also naked. In this fabulous temple, you’ll also find out the sex habits of the ancient Greeks, because in the Hellenic epoch, sex was not a taboo, but a sort of religion to be worshiped and depicted with nudity.
The temples I mentioned a few minutes ago lie in the east hill of Selinunte. Here, there are also two temples: the temple F and the temple G. These last two temples are partially destroyed, but it is always possible to admire large columns and stairs that bring to altars used for domestic or religious customs.
Not far from the hill, there is the acropolis ( see the image), the latter has, instead, a trapezoid shape that contains other important ruins, namely five stunning temples called A, B, C, D and O. Whether you see these five temples close or at a distance, you always have the effect to being gone back into time.
The temple of Segesta ( see the image) dates back to 420 BC. In that time, this settlement probably was attracted by the influence of Athens. The temple lies on a platform with three stairs, but the columns are not fluted like the others in Doric style and it is probable this monument was never finished. To visit Selinunte and Segesta temples, you can land at the airport of Palermo and take a bus that lead you to Trapani, or you can also land at the airport of Trapani. In this city, there are everyday other tourist buses that take you to visit and admire the most beautiful Greek temples in Sicily.
To find accommodations at the Selinunte and Segesta temples, where the owners speak English, please send me a message. I’ll find the proper accommodation for you.
Rosalba Mancuso is a freelance journalist born in Sicily. Passionate about her loved island and with extensive writing experience, Rosalba worked as a contributor to the main Sicily’s newspapers and as a bilingual Italian – English writer. Thanks to her skills, she also founded four websites in English. On Sicilyonweb, Rosalba tells every corner of her beloved Sicily. Furthermore, she writes this blog thanks to your help. Rosalba, in fact, earns a small commission, with no cost for you, when you book your travel or buy products through the affiliate widgets or links you find in her posts.
8 Replies to “Selinunte and Segesta Temples”