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| The town of Castelvetrano
Tourism in Castelvetrano |
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The town of Selinunte The ruins of Selinunte are sufficient to take a journey in Sicily since they are incomparable and unique as regards beauty and suggestion. The name of Selinunte derives from Greek Selinon, wild parsley which still grows spontaneously in this area. The town was founded during the VII century B.C. from Dorian colonists and it had a brief life (about 200 years) but it was intense. The great monuments show that the town reached, during the V century B.C., an immense expansion.
Copyright © Turi Calvino
It was allied to Carthago but later this destroyed the town in a very cruel way. In the Byzanthine period a violent earthquake reduced its old monuments in ruins and the town lost its name too. Recently it has become an archaeological park and its area reachs 270 hectares and is divided into three areas below described. The area of Eastern Temples: there are numerous assembled temples looked east which are classified by alphabetical letters: E-temple (recently restored, it reflects the Sicilian gothic style), F-temple (dedicated to godness Hera or to Aphrodite) and G-temple (built in 530 B.C. and covers an area of a good 7.000 square metres). The area of the Acropolis: it is placed in the highest part and there are the oldest building temples, that are O, A, C and D-temples, and fortifications and vast supporting walls. The area of Sanctuary: it is placed beyond the urban center. Temples in ruins scattered on the waste land now raise their majestic columns towards the sky. Among their columns the well-known Fuso della Vecchia (Spindle of the old woman), whose circumference is so long that eight persons are not able to grasp it.
In the next quarter of Monuzza, beyond the river Selino, is placed the earliest town, while in the locality of gaggera is still visible the sanctuary of the Melaphoras (Pomegranate's godness). |
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