18 Sep MARSALLA and Mozia

 

This post is based primarily on Don's notes, occasionally supplemented with MT's notes from our tour of Sicily in September 2023. When information from other sources is added—for further explanation to readers or to satisfy our own curiosity—that is set off in a text box (as this one).
Most of the photos that accompany this post are from Don’s camera (with a caption indicating the time it was taken); those from MT’s iPhone are indicated by “MT” placed at the beginning of the photo caption. Photos from any other source (such as the public domain Wikimedia Commons), occasionally used for clarification, indicate that source in the caption.

Don woke around 6 am. (MT was already up.)

We ate breakfast at Seawater Hotel at 7:30 am.

For the (included) excursion to Mozia, we had previously received an email that said the meeting time for the 4-hour excursion was 9:00 on 18 September, but it said the meeting place would be communicated to us 1 day before that. Later we were told to meet the van at Piazza del Popolo in Marsala.

MT (prior to our trip) - email attachment, in Italian, the first paragraph of which translates: "Tour SeeSicily - Tour from Marsala to the Laguna dello Stagone including admission with multimedia display of the Mulino d'Infersa." It shows this tour as "voucher gratuiti" (voucher free). It also shows the arrangements for our stays in Cefalù and Siracusa, with the last night in Siracusa "gratuito" (free). The "2 pax" (2 persons) here refers to Don and MT; Lara got the same for her and Ciara.

SeeSicily was a voucher program offered by the government of Sicily in 2023. It aimed to support the tourist sector in Sicily during the post-emergency phase of COVID-19. A financial pot of 75 million euros would subsidize visitors’ accommodation costs, offering one night of a three-night stay at the same location for free, as well as vouchers for cultural and heritage activities.

During dinner the night before, MT had checked Google Maps on her iPhone for the route from Seawater Hotel to Piazza del Popolo where we were to meet a van for our included excursion to Mozia the next morning.

MT Sunday, September 17, 2023, 8:13 PM - Marsala: Google Map showing route from Seawater Hotel on Via Trapani to Piazza del Popolo.

During the van ride to the embarkation point, we passed the Cantine Florio winery, which or driver Bruno said we should visit later. We would do that after our excursion.

Monday, September 18, 3023, 9:46 AM - Marsala: view, from side window of van, of Cantine Florio.

9:47 AM - Marsala: view, through windshield of van, of gate leading into Cantine Florio.

10:00 AM - Near Marsala: view, through side window of van, of salt flats; sign in foreground for Davide Eugenio restaurant.

10:09 AM - Near Marsala: view, through side window of van, of salt flats with piles of salt.

10:19 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: Mulino d' Infersa windmill and boat dock, with piles of salt to the left of the boat channel and salt flats on right.

The Laguna dello Stagnone, the largest lagoon in Sicily, is located in the municipality of Marsala, in the province of Trapani. It is characterized by shallow waters of 1-2 m and in some places no more than 20-30 cm. It includes the Stagnone Islands, a group of four islands that include Mozia. The lagoon was formed relatively recently (it did not exist at the time of the Phoenician colonization of Mozia), following movements of sand due to underwear currents. This caused the closure of a part of the sea that was originally open, and since there were no currents, the water became more stagnant. (Hence the name Stagnone.) The main activity of the Stagnone was that of the salt works carried out by evaporating water pumped into special lakes (salt flats) and then collecting the salt. The pumping of water and the grinding of salt were carried out by windmills, some of which are now restored and functioning.

10:20 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: Mulino d' Infersa windmill and boat dock, with piles of salt to the left of the boat channel and salt flats and two more windmills at far left.

10:20 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: more piles of salt to the left of the boat channel and salt flats and two more windmills at right.

10:50 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: the boat we would take for Mozia.

10:51 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: piles of salt to the right of the boat channel (telephoto 93 mm).

10:52 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: piles of salt to the right of the boat channel and more windmills beyond salt flats at right.

MT 10:51 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: piles of salt to the right of the boat channel  and more salt flats in background (telephoto 71 mm).

10:52 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: piles of salt to the left of the boat channel and Mulino della Saline Infersa windmill at right.

10:59 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: Mulino della Saline Infersa windmill.

The Mulino della Saline Infersa (Mill of the Infersa Salt Flats) is a beautifully restored 16th-century windmill opposite the Mozia boat dock, 10 km north of Marsala. It houses a museum about salt and rural life in the region.

MT 10:54 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: Mulino della Saline Infersa windmill, with our tour boat arriving at dock (telephoto 121 mm).

11:00 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: piles of salt.

11:04 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: approaching the island of Mozia on our boat.

Mozia (Ancient Greek Μοτύη [Motye] or Μοτύα [Motya]; Latin: Motya; Italian: Mozie or Mothia; and Sicilian: Mozzia) was a city built by the Phoenicians between the 9th and 8th centuries BC. In the Punic language of the Phoenicians (using only consonants), the name of their settlement would possibly be read as Motye, possibly derived from a Phoenician root meaning “a wool-spinning center.” The Greeks claimed the place was named for a woman named Motya, whom they connected with the myths about Hercules.
The Phoenician settlement was located on the small island now known as San Pantaleo (Saint Pantaleon), 1 mile from the coast. It is in the center of the Laguna dello Stagnone, along with two smaller islands, Santa Maria and Scoula. A mighty wall with several gates protected the city from hostile attacks. The north side of the island was linked to the mainland by an artificial causeway built across the shallowest part of the lagoon, over which chariots with large wheels could supply the town with the supply of food and building materials. It also provided a long quay for mooring boats. The name of the city could mean “landing” or “harbor,” one of the typical requirements of many Phoenician settlements. Thanks to its proximity to Africa, the city became an obligatory stop for commercial routes toward Spain, Sardinia, and central Italy, and one of the most flourishing Phoenician colonies on the Mediterranean.
Around the 7th century BC, Mozia became dependent on Carthage. As the Greeks established colonies in Sicily, the Carthaginians concentrated on three main ones, of which Mozia was the closest to Carthage, and it became the capital of Carthaginian possessions in Sicily. The original settlement developed over the centuries to reach its maximum expansion probably in the 5th century BC, occupying the entire surface area of the island (approx. 40 hectares).
In 406 BC, the Carthaginians attempted to dominate all of Sicily. In 397 BC, the Carthaginian Dionysius of Syracuse attacked and besieged Mozia. The inhabitants who survived and could not escape were executed by Dionysius. Some of the survivors fled to the Sicilian coast, founding the city of Lilybeum or Lilibea, which became today’s Marsala.
Although the old Mozia disappeared from history, the island was not completely abandoned but was inhabited only by a few fishermen. In the 11th century, Greek Basilian monks, who built a chapel dedicated to St. Pantaleo on the ruins of an ancient temple there, changed the name of the island where the city was formerly located to San Pantaleo.
In 1800, around a dozen families of farmers owned the land of San Pantaleo. They cultivated mainly vineyards, and the grape production gave rise to Marsala wine, then in great demand for the English market. English families then settled in Sicily to oversee the marketing of the wine; among them where the Whitakers.

Joseph Isaac Spatafora Whitaker (1850-1936), also known as Giuseppe, was “an Englishman by nationality, born in Palermo, and Sicilian in soul” In the early 1900s, he became the sole owner of the island. Along with his brother, he had inherited the Ingham Marsala wine business in Palermo, as well as the Inghams’ banking business, through his paternal grandmother, Mary Ingham.
On Moxia, Whitaker inherited vast farmland dedicated to grapes. While he did not neglect the vineyards, still in production today although reduced in number, he began the first systematic archaeological excavations of the ruins. For about 20 years, he devoted himself passionately to the rediscovery of the ancient city of Mozia.
The island is now owned and operated the Whitaker Foundation (Palermo), known for Marsala wines.
In 1975, Whitaker’s daughter created the Fondazione Giuseppe Whitaker (“G” Whitaker Foundation) in his honor. Its headquarters is in Palermo. Its aim is promoting cultural activities in Sicily, with particular reference to the study of Phoenician-Punic civilization and the preservation of its historical heritage on the island of Mozia.

MT 11:06 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: approaching the island of Mozia on our boat; the building at the right is the G. Whitaker Museum (telephoto 133 mm).

The first part of our excursion was a boat trip around the island in Laguna dello Stagnone.

11:07 AM - Laguna dello Stagnone: our boat starting on a clockwise circuit around the island of Mozia.

11:09 AM - Mozia: South Gate.

The South Gate is a town access gate flanked by two bastions (5th century BC). It is close to the Kothon basin. Here excavations have unearthed three temple buildings (dedicated to Baal and Astarte). They are separated from the rest of the settlement by a circular wall that also encloses the Kothon basin.
The Kothon, identified as a basin of sacred water, is fed by two fresh water springs. It is linked to the cults that took place in the Sanctuary of Cappiddazzu on the north side of the island.

11:09 AM - Mozia: closer view of South Gate.

MT 11:11 AM - Mozia: closer view of South Gate (telephoto 83 mm).

11:12 AM - Mozia: mounds near South Gate, which could have been bastions.

11:13 AM - Mozia: mounds near South Gate, with Kothon basin visible between them.

11:14 AM - Mozia: mounds near South Gate, with closer view of Kothon.

11:16 AM - Mozia: nearby islands.

11:23 AM - Mozia: Northwest (or North?) Gate.

Then our boat passed over the now submerged causeway, barely visible through the water.

11:28 AM - Mozia: submerged causeway.

The now submerged causeway (6th-4th century BC) that used to connect the north side of Mozia to the mainland started from the North Gate, flanked by two bastions (5th century BC).

When the boat dropped us off at the island of Mozia, we found that our "free" excursion only included the boat trip around the island but did not not include admission to the island. We had to pay €10 each for the tickets.

Mozia: €10 ticket for admission to island of Mozia, paid to the Fondazione "G Whitaker."

Close to the dock, we came to the G. Whitaker Museum.

The most meaningful finds from the excavations are on display in the G. Whitaker Museum (also known as the Archaeological Museum). To exhibit the materials he found, Whitaker first built a special room on the island adjacent to his home. The current layout of the museum dated back to 2001. It contains both materials from the Whitaker collection and a selection of those from excavations carried out after World War II by various Italian and foreign archaeological missions.

Mozia: map of Mozia provided by the museum; the legend reads:1 = G. Whitaker Museum. 2 = Domestic Area: Zona A (House of the Amphoras). 3 = Tofet. 4 = Necropolis. 5-16 = Industrial Area. 6 = Cappiddazzu sanctuary. 7-8 = North Gate / Submerged causeway. 9 = Eastern Tower with staircase. 10 = Fortifications. 11 = Domestic Area: House of Mosaics. 12 = Casermetta (Guardhouse). 13-14 = South Gage / Kothon. 15 = Place of Discovery. 17 - Domestic Area: Town center. 18 = Domestic Area: Zona D (House of the family chapel. 19 = Domestic Area: Zona B. 20 = Zona F: North-West Gate and attached fortifications. 21 = Kothon sanctuary. 22 = Domestic Area: Zona E.

Don and MT began walking around the island, using the map. Lara and Chiara decided to stay at the museum.

 

11:45 AM - Mozia: sign for "Rediscovering Motya" [Mozia]; English text reads:

"The island of San Pantaleo, ancient Motya, has been inhabited since prehistoric times (Middle Bronze Age, 17th-14th century BC) as evidenced by the survey conducted in the Acropolis (Zone E, I, and D). The earliest Phoenician  settlement was built at the beginning of the 8th century BC on the island's southern bank, where the fresh water aquifer emerged (fig. 2) and where archaeologists of "La Sapieza" discovered a structure (Building C8, fig. 1) and an open cult place. Here, the Temple of Baal, the Phoenician major deity, was erected (fig. 3), accompanied by [a] smaller religious building dedicated to Astarte and rebuilt several times during the life of the city (fig. 4). Quickly the town was extended to the entire island (fig. 5), overlaying the prehistoric remains on the Acropolis. To the north was built the Temple of Melgart (called 'Cappiddazzu'), while to the north-west was implanted the Sanctuary of Tophet (fig. 6). During the 6th century BC, Motya was provided of defensive city walls (fig. 7) and the main important buildings were rebuilt. The Circular Temenos of 118 m in diameter was erected to delimit the area of the southern springs of fresh waters, the reconstructed Temple of Baal 'Addir / Poseidon and the sacred pool connected to it (the 'Kothon') ; the Temple of Astarte was refounded with a porch. It was a period of greatest prosperity until its final destruction by the tyrant Dionysius of Syracuse in 397/6 BC (fig. 8). The whole city was monumentalised and indigenous, Greek, Sicilian Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians elements were merged to create a contaminated culture as demonstrated by the extraordinary Greek statue of the Motya Charioteer (a Greek original perhaps dedicated by the local lord, representing the triumph of Heracles/Melgart in the role of a charioteer - dating back to around 475 BC). After the destruction the inhabitants took refuge on the mainland and founded the city of Lilybaeum (Marsala) but the island continued to live, albeit hosting only industrial activities and some rural villas. In 242 BC, Sicily passed under Roman rule, and Motya hosted the earliest Christian cult places in the Cappiddazzu area. In the 11th AD century Motya was donated by the Normans to a group of Basilian monks who settled on the island,  to which they gave the name of their protector Saint Pantaleo. In the second half of the 16th century, the island passed to the Jesuits, but only in 1619 the scholar and traveler Cluverius identified it correctly as the ancient city of Motya."

11:45 AM - Mozia: sign for "G. Whitaker Foundation: Archaeology, Culture and Oenology [a science that deals with wine and wine making] at Motya"; English text reads:

"The island of Motya was bought by G. Whitaker at the end of the Nineteenth Century. He transformed it into a flourishing estate, and, successively, when ancient monuments became [sic! = began] to appear (fig. 1), into an extraordinary archaeological site. Motya belongs to the Whitaker Foundation, an institution established by Delia Whitaker in 1974 thanks to the Sicilian archaeologist Vincenzo Tusa for Superintendence of Trapani and professor Sabatino Moscati, on behalf of Rome 'La Sapienza' University. From the cooperation between these two institutions the reappraisal of Motya as a major Mediterranean archaeological site started.

"The antiquities gathered by the British nobleman [Whitaker] into a huge collection were displayed into a Museum dedicated to him (figs. 2-3), located into the building he erected on the island (fig, 4). The Museum exhibits items mostly found in Motya: Whitaker's historical collection (figs. 5-6), as well as various material from the excavations carried out in different spots of the ancient city of Motya (1960-2016)..

"Visitors will find a hall dedicated to general information with a model of the island and one of the Temple of the Kothon. In the main hall with wooden truss, the famous Greek original known as the [']Motya Charioteer' has been recently set on exhibit. It is among the most outstanding carved masterpieces of Classical antiquity dating from c. 475 BC. Along with the finds from the main temples of the ancient city, the Temple of the Kothon, dedicated to the god Baal, and the Tempole of the so-called 'Cappidduzza', dedicated to Melgart, a huge section is devoted to the Tophet, the sanctuary for the burnt remains offered to Baal Hammon, excavated by Antonia Ciasco, including stelas, pottery vessels used as urns, terracottas (masks and protomes [adornments that take the form of the head or upper torso of either a human or an animal]). Three cases host funerary sets from the necropolis, dating back from the 8th to the 5th century BC. Some finds from the tombs in the nearby Birgi necropolis are also on display.

"[The] Whitaker family is historically linked to the oenological production, as the grandfather of Giuseppi Whitaker, Banjamin Inghram, in 1806, transplanted in Sicily a grape to produce a 'Sicily Madera' which then became the renowned 'Marsala.' Nowadays in different areas of the island a special grape is cultivated, called 'Grillo', which produced a tasteful white wine."

(Photo at top right is "Portrait of Giuseppe Whitaker 1900.)

11:46 AM - Mozia: small house near museum with sign about a speech Garibaldi made here before leading 1,000 volunteers from here to launch a campaign to liberate Italy.

11:46 AM - Mozia: that sign in Italian that translates: "Here Giuseppe Garibaldi came to rest on July 20, 1862 after he said the great saying  in Marsala[:] Rome or Death." This seems to be the Italian equivalent of "George Washington slept here."

“Rome or Death” is the phrase that Giuseppe Garibaldi pronounced for the first time on the occasion of the speech held during the gathering of “Red Shirt” volunteers in Marsala on 19 July 1862. Subsequently, the phrase was repeated by the general on other occasions, in speeches announcing the departure of Garibaldi’s volunteers from Sicily to conquer Rome.

11:47 AM - Mozia: Lara entering the Museum; signs at left for "Museo G. Whitaker" and at right for "Casa Whitaker."

Our first stop, as we walked to the west of the Museum was at Domestic Area: Zone D (House of the family chapel).

11:47 AM - Mozia: Zone D - House of the Family Chapel foundations.

Domestic Area: Zone D (House of the family chapel) was described in the key to number 18 on our map as follows: “Zone of the inhabited area with a wide residence characterized by the presence, in its last period of life (4th century B.C.) of a small chapel (sacello) and of a bathroom.”

11:57 AM - Mozia: Zone D - sign on railing identifying this as "18."

MT 11:57 AM - Mozia: Zone D - possibly House of the Horn of Triton, with sea in background (mild telephoto 45 mm).

11:59 AM - Mozia: sign for "Casa del Corno de Tritone"; upper left says "Sapienza Universita de Roma" [Sapienza University of Rome], and upper right says Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Trapani" [Superintendence of Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Trapani] (telephoto 130 mm).

Casa del Corno de Tritone (House of the Horn of Triton) is the second residence explored in Zone D. It flanks the House of the Family Chapel to the south and can be dated to the 5th century BC. Only three rooms in the southwest part of the building have been explored, but findings there emphasize the luxuriousness of this residence.
Missione Archaeologica a Mozia (Archaeological Mission in Mozia), or MAM, is made up of archaeologists and scientists from the Department of Ancient Sciences of the Sapienza University of Rome. Sapienza is Italian for Wisdom. The excavation activities of the Mission are carried out in collaboration with the Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Trapani" (Superintendence of Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Trapani). 

Continuing to the southwest, we came to the Kothon area, in Zone C.

The Kothon Sanctuary was described in the key to our map as follows: “Wide cult building surrounded by a circular wall, characterized by the presence of standing ‘betili’ (pilar representations of god) in the courtyard.”

12:02 PM - Mozia: sign, in English, for "The Sacred Area of the Kothon"; the text reads:

"The investigation of the earliest Phoenician presence in Motya is one of the strategic objectives of the renewed on-going archaeological research carried out annually by Rome 'La Sapienza' expedition since 2002, under the aegis of the Superintendence of Trapani and with the cooperation of the G. Whitaker Foundation.

"1. The earliest Phoenician settlement and the fresh water wells

"The earliest Phoenician settlement in Motya (fig. 1), dating back to the second quarter of the 8th century BC, was located on the southwestern shore of the island: an easy landing place near the fresh water outcropping close to the underground aquifer. The Phoenicians skillfully worked the oily and water-repellent clayish marl bedrock in order to isolate the freshwater from the extra-saline waters of the lagoon. In the marl, they dug a long series of wells, lined up in two rows on an east-west axis, ensuring an abundant supply of water for their ships.

"2. The spring of the Kothon and the Temple

"Some meters inland, a spring fed a small march: an artificial basin (hereinafter called, in Greek, Kothon) was built to contain it. Nearby, a temple dedicated to the god Baal 'Addir-Poseidon was erected. Therefore, the Temple (C5), which was modelled on the Levantine Four Room Building plan with a central courtyard occupied by an obelisk and other installations, was the earliest religious core of the emerging city. In the middle of the Temple was the sacred well, which drew fresh water from the same aquifer feeding the spring of the Kothon. Afterwards, around the mid-6th century BC, when the urban layout of Motya was completely reorganized and the city-walls were built, a new organization of the sacred area was adopted. Indeed, the whole system of springs, a new sacred pool, the Temple and the buffer zone to the north were included in the Circular Tenemos, which is a boundary wall delimiting the sacred area and distinguishing the dwellings from the space where the fresh water flows plentifully from the underground aquifer.

"3. The Circular Tenemos

"The Kothon was the geometric and symbolic core of the entire sacred area, as has been testified by the discovery of the Circular Tenemos. The great sacred enclosure of 118.65 m (226 cubits) in diameter incorporates all the different installations, including the Shrine of Astarte (fig. 4) in the north-eastern part of the sacred area, This was a small in antis structure, with a central niche at the bottom of the cella. The Tenemos was built around the mid-6th century BC in monumental shapes, with a thickness of 1.5 m. The original elevation of the earliest Tenemos reached at least 2 m (fig. 5). The wall was rebuilt between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, stopping at a height of 1.2 m and levelling the top with small stones (fig. 6)."

A temenos (Greek τέμενος) refers to a piece of land set aside or cut off from everyday use and assigned as a special domain for the veneration of a temporal ruler or a god. It was usually surrounded by a wall, ditch, or line of stones. All things inside of the demarcated area belonged to the designated god or ruler.

12:03 PM - Mozia: Kothon - one side of the Circular Tenemos.

12:03 PM - Mozia: Kothon - other side of the Circular Tenemos.

12:07 PM - Mozia: Kothon - the sacred pool, with lagoon in background.

12:07 PM - Mozia: Kothon - sign, in English, for "The Sacred Pool Called 'Kothon'"; the text reads:

"1. The excavations

"The investigation of the artificial basin called 'Kothon' began in the second half of the 19th century, after the pool's secondary use as a salt work (starting from the 12th century) was halted. The first systematic excavations, led in 1906-1907 by Joseph Whitaker, explored part of the opening, uncovering the docks and arguing for the basin as a harbour similar to others in the Punic coastal cities of North Africa. The investigations were resumed by the British mission headed by Benedict S.J. Isserlin and Joan du Plat Taylor during the years 1968-1970, recognizing different building phases of the basin and attributing the closure of the channel by a wall to the final stage of the city. Three trenches transversal to the quays of the basin were excavated, suggesting the existence of a 1.3 meter buffer zone around the Kothon. The investigation of the architectural structure, the function and chronology of the artificial basin has been jointly carried out by the University of Rome 'Sapienza' and the Superintendence of Trapani since 2002. The sectors close to the quays and the installations connected to the opening and recognizable in the lagoon between it and the South Gate were investigated. In particular, during the XXV excavation campaign (2005), the re-examination and reconstruction of the structures and the hydraulic installations connected to the pool were undertaken.

"2, The Kothon

"The Kothon is situated in the middle of the Circular Tenemos (fig. 1), which is the huge sacred enclosure occupying the south-western sector of Motya. The basin (52.5 x 35.7 m) was built based on a ratio between the sides (fig. 2), in which the greater length was obtained as a projection of the diagonal of the square built on the smaller side; its maximum depth is 2.5 m, but it varies from the centre to the sides and gently slopes from north-east to south-west, following the inclination of the bedrock in which the bottom of the basin was carved. The quays were made of limestone walls composed of one cubit ashlar blocks, which were regularly rough-hewed and worked on their facades. The pool was used to collect the fresh water flowing from the springs located to the north and east (fig. 3). The water was directed into the basin through a channel on the eastern quay and the protruding blocks on the northern side of the Kothon. In the middle of the northern side, a protruding dock 7.8 m long (fig. 7) stands out. On the southern side, originally closed, was a channel 23.5 m long and connected to the lagoon (fig. 5). The sector close to the city-walls was carefully lined with blocks also on the bottom, where there was a central recess with a semicircular section in order to facilitate the sliding of the ships. After the destruction brought by Dionysius in 397/6 BC, it was used as a dry dock; the quays flanking the channel were made of ashlar blocks and show the grooves likely related to a closure or a swing bridge. The Kothon basin was connected - through some structures and cultic installations - to the nearby Temple: in the central hall, a sacred well with a square opening, an obelisk erected east of the well and two stelae were collocated. At the base of the obelisk, there were holes for libations communicating with a channel (fig. 4-6) running under the floor of the Temple, re-emerging at the eastern quay and reaching the sacred pool."

12:08 PM - Mozia: probably the Temple of Kothon.

The Temple of Kothon was dedicated to the Phoenician god Baal ‘Addir, the powerful lord which the Greeks identified with Poseidon, god of the stormy sea and of the groundwater flowing abundantly into the Kothon basin.
The excavations carried out since 2002 by the “Sapienza” University of Rome Expedition near the eastern quay of the artificial basin known as Kothon led to the discovery of a large temple built around the mid-8th century BC and in use until the 4th century BC.
The sacred building was characterized by a “Four-Room Building” plan deriving from the Levantine tradition, as seen in Cyprus and Palestine.
The temple was connected by a channel with the sacred pool of the Kothon, and both were fed by the fresh water springs unclosed in the Circular Tenemos. 

12:08 PM - Mozia: probably the Temple of Kothon, to right.

Next, we came to the South Gate, which we had seen from the boat.

12:08 PM - Mozia: sign, in Italian, for "Il Quartiere de P:orta Sud", still in Zone C, which translates as:

“The South Gate Quarter

“The First Phoenician Settlement

“1. History of the excavations

“The systematic excavation of the area between the Kothon basin, the walls and the South Gate was begun in 1906 by Joeph Whitaker, who conducted a series of surveys, bringing to light the collapsed walls. The research was expanded and deepened by Benedikt S.J. Isserlin starting from 1955, bringing to light remains of houses and buildings attributed to three phases between the 7th and 4th centuries BC. Since 2002, research in this sector of Mozia has been taken up by the Mission of the University of Rome “La Sapienza.”

“2. The First Phoenician Settlement – 8th Century BC.
“The first Phoenician settlement in Mozia occurred between 775 and 750 BC, where the water table and landing for ships was easier. A series of wells dug in the regularized clayey marl bank to establish the installations of the first Phoenician colony was identified immediately south of the Kothon (fig. 2). A large tripartite building, with warehouse functions, was the first construction other than the Temple to arise in Motya. The construction of the walls in the mid-6th century BC. and the Circular Temenos inside the Gate caused the obliteration of this building.
“3. The South Gate, the Fortifications and the New Residential Quarter
The South Gate (fig. 1), facing the mouth of the Stagnone and preceded by a system of platforms projecting into the sea, opened with a passageway with two arches measuring a total of 5 m. This was protected by two towers, the western one of which was located on the eastern quay of the mouth of the Kothon.
“The walls, made up of a base in large calcarenitic and semi-finished stone blocks of medium to large dimensions, with a massive elevation of raw bricks and a crowning with rounded battlements, the walls had a thickness of 4 m and were located approximately 15-20 m from the ancient coastline, thus superimposing itself on the entire southern sector of the previous residential district.
“The new residential quarter arose after the construction of the walls during the 5th century BC. It is characterized by being made up of multiple juxtaposed domestic units. After the destruction of 397/6 BC, the houses do not appear to have been rebuilt, although this sector continued to be frequented.
“4. The Cultic Installations

"On the edge of the sacred area of the Temple of the Kothon, during the systematic excavations conducted by the University of Rome "La Sapienza" since 2005, some cultic installations were identified, including wells and offering pits, delimiting the sacred space from the residential neighborhood of the South Gate. Two wells (P.2927, fig. 3; P.1660, fig. 5) located just south of the southern corner of the Kothon basin, attributable to the last use of the Temple between 470 and 397/6 BC, were intended for religious purposes. These wells, ritually sealed at the time of their obliteration, contained within them a series of vases and offerings placed according to cultural activities connected with the chthonic divinities and linked to rites of passage. An offering pit (F.2950; fig. 3) was excavated at the south-western edge of the sacred area, which contained, together with numerous other finds, a fragment of a laconian aryballos (fig. 6) bearing graffiti on the handle with the Greek inscription “I am sacred to Belios” (Belios is the Greek name of the Phoenician god Baal) on a scarab in Egyptian Blue (fig. 7).” 

12:12 PM - Mozia: rectangular dry dock near the oval Kothon pool, with part of South Gate at upper left and sea in the background; note the back of a sign in the rectangle.

12:12 PM - Mozia: rectangular dry dock with part of South Gate in background; note the back of a sign in the rectangle.

MT 12:14 PM - Mozia: Don with that sign for "Bacino di Carenaggio" in the rectangular dry dock with part of South Gate (mild telephoto 75 mm).

12:14 PM - Mozia: that sign for "Bacino di Carenaggio" in the rectangular dry dock near the oval Kothon pool  (in the background).

12:14 PM - Mozia: part of South Gate to east of the rectangular dry dock, with the oval Kothon pool in the background.

12:14 PM - Mozia: more of South Gate to east of the rectangular dry dock, with part of the city wall in the right background.

12:15 PM - Mozia: where dry dock drains into sea.

MT 12:16 PM - Mozia: where dry dock drains into sea (mild telephoto 39 mm).

12:15 PM - Mozia: view from dry dock through South Gate back to pool of Kothon, with sign for "Bacino di Carenaggio" at far end of rectangular dry dock.

MT 12:17 PM - Mozia: view from dry dock through South Gate back to pool of Kothon and part of South Gate (mild telephoto 39 mm).

12:15 PM - Mozia: more of city wall to west of South Gate.

Then we retraced the path back to Zone D.

12:31 PM - Mozia: sign, in English, for "The Southern Basement (Area D.02)"; text reads:

"1. Area D - the dwellings on the south-western slopes of the Acropolis

"The Acropolis of Mozia, located off-centre on the eastern side of the island, was a well-identified area of the city, perhaps the earliest part of the settlement. The border of the Acropolis is sharp to the south and east, while the northern slope goes downhill towards an area possibly occupied by public buildings.

"The western side of the Acropolis was chosen to investigate a further portion of the dwelling quarter (fig. 1). In this area, two aristocratic residences of the 5tht-4th centuries BC have been explored: the 'House of the Domestic Shrine' (panel Area D.01) and the 'House of the Horn of Triton' (panel area D.03), respectively arranged on the north-east and south-west of square L.1031, which flows into road I.261 oriented north-west/south-east. Since 2004, in order to establish a stratigraphic and occupational sequence to be linked with those of the Tophet and the city walls, three stratigraphic soundings have been excavated: in square I.1031 (Sounding I), at the north-western tip of Building D1 (Sounding II), and in the court L.220 of the 'House of the Domestic Shrine' (Sounding III), reaching the earliest layer of the Phoenician presence and the underlying prehistoric strata (panel Area /d.04).

"2. The Southern Basement

"On square L.1031 and under some accessory units of the 'House of the Domestic Shrine' (Building D1), the foundations of an earlier building have been brought to light. The architectonic fabric (Building D2) thus discovered was called the 'Southern Basement' (figs. 3-4) and it was in use from the mid-5th century BC. To this phase belong an important obliteration deposit, which included Black-Glazed vessels, Punic Plain Ware preparation pots and two Black Figure kylikes (fig. 2)."

Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). Stratigraphic sound sonifies* the geologic strata, feeding them into an algorithm that converts image to sound frequencies. As the sound plays, it moves down through the geologic strata, voicing the earth as an alien hum generated by the accumulations of deep time.
*Sonification is the use of non-speech audio to convey information or data.
Stratigraphy is also a key concept to modern archaeological theory and practice, a concept derived from the geological use. Modern excavation techniques are based on stratigraphic principles. When archaeological finds are below the surface of the ground (as is most commonly the case), the identification of the context of each find is vital in enabling the archaeologist to draw conclusions about the site and about the nature and date of its occupation. Archaeologists attempt to discover what contexts exist and how they came to be created. Stratigraphic relationships are relationships created between contexts in time, representing the chronological order in which they were created. Contexts are single events or actions that leave discrete, detectable traces in the archaeological sequence or stratiography.
On the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix (plural kylikes) is a Greek word meaning “cup.” It is an ancient Greek cup with a shallow, rounded basin and a tall stem, usually associated with drinking wine. The cup is fitted with two handles, on opposite sides. 

12:32 PM - Mozia: the Southern Basement.

12:32 PM - Mozia: the Southern Basement, with Kothon in  background.

Then we headed north toward the Tophet.

Tofet (also spelled Tophet*) was described in the key to number 3 on our map as follows:
“This sacred area consists of [an] open air sanctuary, where the rests of human and animal sacrifices were laid down, inside vases (end of the 8th-6th century B.C.)”

The Sapienza University of Rome web site says: “The excavations of the Tofet of Mozia were conducted by Antonia Ciasca continuously for ten years from 1964 to 1973 (to which was added a campaign in 1993 at the museumization of the area), with systematic campaigns that led to the clarification of the stratigraphy of the area and the recovery of a very notable number of finds. The sanctuary has yielded more than a thousand depositions and around two hundred steles and cippi**, distributed over seven layers, as well as a series of other cult installations, which allow us to reconstruct, an almost unique case in the panorama of Punic tofets, the historical-archaeological development of the place of worship linked to the sacrifice of infants throughout the history of Mozia. The seven distinct layers in the urn field were grouped by Antonia Ciasca into three phases, in agreement with the data deduced from the study of the architectural structures present in the Tophet (the walls that delimit the sanctuary, the city walls that close it on the northern side and the chapels present inside), which cover a chronological period between the second half of the 8th and the end of the 4th century BC. [See https://www.lasapienzamozia.it/Tofet.php for more details.]

*In the Hebrew Bible, a tophet (or tofet) is a location in Jerusalem where worshipers engaged in child sacrifices. Archaeologists have applied the term “tophet” to large cemeteries of children found at Carthaginian sites and other Mediterranean sites under the cultural influence of Carthage, such as Motya, traditionally believed to house sacrificed human children. Some scholars argue that the tophets may have been children’s cemeteries and that not all the burials in the tophet were sacrifices.
**A cippus (plural cippi) is a small, low pillar usually inscribed and used in ancient Rome and Greece as a gravestone, landmark, or boundary post. 

12:45 PM - Mozia: a group of archaeology students from the "Sapienza" University of Rome.

MT 12:45 PM - Mozia: a group of archaeology students from the "Sapienza" University of Rome (telephoto 77 mm).

12:46 PM - Mozia: sign, in English, for "The Southern Border of the Tophet"; the text reads:

"The restoration activities in the Tophet sanctuary (fig. 1) carried out jointly by the Rome 'La Sapienza' expedition and the Regional Superintendence of Trapani between the spring of 2009 and the summer of 2011, permit us to identify the southern border of the sanctuary. The investigations were focused along wall T1, which was the southern edge of the area investigated by A. Ciasca, and were subsequently extended to three different areas to the south of the fence of the sanctuary. To the south-east, threshold M.3275, made of a large limestone ashlar block, was discovered (fig. 2).

"In its first construction (ca. 750-550 BC), the Tophet and its [text faded] [panel Area Tophet O.2] were distinctly separated from the urban fabric. During the overall plan of reconstructions involving the city in around the mid-6th century BC, the sacred area was included within the city-walls and was gradually connected to other cultic installations. The rooms located to the south of wall T1 are part of a large architectural fabric called [text faded] (fig. 3), and faced south-east. Its building, during the new phase (ca. 470-425 BC), altered and cut the southern border of the sanctuary.

"Another sounding (10 x 5 m) was excavated at the south-eastern limit of the Tophet, uncovering some rooms (L.3260/L.3270) and installations related to a small place of worship, which was connected to the most recent entrance to the Sanctuary. A large room, apparently intended for cultic activities, with a niche and a square limestone block in the centre (M.3250), was uncovered. Leaning against this pier was a small platform, made up of small flat stones (B.3252), and some ceramic vessels (fig. 5).  Near this installation, were found an oblong betyl (fig. 6), originally placed on podium B.3252, some ceramics, a folded lead foil, an iron point and a terracotta. During the 4th century BC, the room was paved with slabs and paving stones. In its thick collapse stratum, a bronze javelin and an aryballic lekythos (fig. 4) were found, whereas, on its north side, was the mouth of a bothros (P.3284).

"The data collected from the three soundings, therefore, permit us to establish the stratigraphic position of wall T1: it was built during the reconfiguration of the Tophet Sanctuary around the mid-6th century BC (early Phase B). Therefore, both the southern border of the sanctuary and the southern edge of the urnfield during previous Phase A have yet to be detected. The most likely position of the entrance to the sanctuary, as has previously been suggested by A. Ciasca, should indicate threshold M.3275, which is open to a passage with several rooms, which - hosting a cultic space - led to the urnfield, located a few meters further north."

Betyl (also baetylus, bethel, or baetyl), from Semitic bet el (“house of god”), are sacred stones that were supposedly endowed with life, or gave access to a deity.

A lekythos (ancient Greek, plural lekythoi) is a type of ancient Greek vessel used for storing oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel. Lekythoi were especially associated with funerary rites. The lekythos was used for anointing unmarried women’s dead bodies, and many lekthoi are found in tombs.
An aryballic lekythos, from its similarity with the round body of the aryballos, is a shape of Attican origin.

A bothros (plural bothroi) is an ancient Greek word for “hole,” “pit,” or “trench.” In Greek antiquity. A bothros was an artificially created or formed depression in the ground, which could serve various purposes. In archaeology, similar items were also referred to by this name and interpreted depending on their context as altars, locations for sacrifice, or storage pits. 

Next, we came to the Necropolis.

The Necropolis*, further to the northeast from the Tophet, was described number 4 in the key to our map as follows: “From the end of the 8th century to the end of the 6th century B.C., most of the cremated remains were buried into stone chests. Between the 6th century and the 5th century B.C., stone sarcophagi appear in the necropolis, showing the diffusion of inhumation practices.”
The Necropolis of the archaic phase is located on the north coast of the island. It is a vast, open rocky area, which was crossed by the construction of the city walls at the beginning of the 6th century BC. The tombs are mainly for remains of cremation and consist of small pits excavated in the rock or earth that contain the cinerary (container where the burned remains of the deceased were placed) and on the sides of objects of funerary equipment. The cineraries were of three types:
1) Formed by six slabs of raw tuff stone, four lateral, one at the bottom, and the other at the top as a lid.
2) Composed of several types of amphorae.
3) Consisting of a monolithic block of stone, square or rectangular, in which a square dimple was made in the center, intended to contain the burned remains; for a lid, it had a slab or another identical monolithic block.
The funerary equipment, generally quite modest, is composed of Phoenician Punic ceramics, accompanied by some Greek and some Corinthian ceramics, which allows us to date most of the burials between the end of the 8th and 7th centuries BC, while there are some tombs of the 6th and 5th centuries.
*A necropolis is a cemetery or place intended for burial. Etymologically, it means “city of the dead or corpses. 

12:49 PM - Mozia: Necropolis.

12:49 PM - Mozia: Necropolis, with cover over work area.

12:49 PM - Mozia: Necropolis, with cover over work area.

12:50 PM - Mozia: Necropolis, with cover over work area; round stone structure, possibly a well, just to left of the cover.

MT 12:51 PM - Mozia: Necropolis, with cover over work area; another round stone structure, possibly a well, just to left of the cover.

12:51 PM - Mozia: sign on railing with number "4" for Acropolis.

12:51 PM - Mozia: more of Necropolis.

12:51 PM - Mozia: more of Necropolis.

MT 12:54 PM - Mozia: more of Necropolis (mild telephoto 43 mm).

From the Necropolis, we followed a path to the south to the Cappiddazzu Sanctuary.

The “Cappiddazzu sanctuary” was described number 6 in the key to our map as follows: “Great temple with three naves. Unknown is the name of the divinity there worshipped.”
Our brochure from the Museum says that, compared with other temples on the island, the Sanctuary of Cappiddazzu has a more complex plan. It was a sacred place from the origins of Mozia until the Middle Ages, when the Basilian monks built a chapel dedicated to St. Pantaleo on the ruins of the ancient temple.
The web site of the City of Marsala says: “The most ancient parts of the walls are dry stone walls and date back to the second half of the 7th century B.C. The architectural complex on a tripartite layout hosts constructions of different ages, All these elements cannot be easily investigated due to the many transformations they have undergone.

12:56 PM - Mozia: sign, in Italian for "Santuario del 'Cappiddazzu' - Il Tempio de Melquart/Heracles" (Sanctuary of 'Cappiddazzu' - The Temple of Melgart/Hercules); the first paragraph of the text translates as follows:

"One of the historical excavation sites of the joint mission of the Superintendence of Antiquities of Western Sicily and the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ is that of the Sanctuary known as ‘Cappiddazzu’ in which Vincenzo Tusa, taking up Giuseppe Whitaker’s excavations, clarified the sequence and architectural features of the major temple of Mozia. Located on one of the highest points of the island, about 5 m above sea level, the Sanctuary of ‘Cappiddazzu’ stands not far from the North Gate along the road that led to the interior of the island. The Sanctuary, in its most recent configuration (fig. 4-5), consists of a rectangular enclosure and a temple, whose south-eastern façade is inserted on the west side of the temenos." [Later, at 1:03 pm, we saw the same sign in English; see that photo for more of text.]

12:56 PM - Mozia: Sanctuary of Cappiddazzu.

12:56 PM - Mozia: Sanctuary of Cappiddazzu.

MT 12:57 PM - Mozia: Sanctuary of Cappiddazzu, with unidentified man among ruins.

12:57 PM - Mozia: signs by covered work area for numbers "5" and "15."

Our map shows numbers 5 and 15 to the north of the Cappiddazzu Sanctuary. The key to our map identifies number “5” as “Industrial Area” and “District characterized by the presence of ovens for the production of vases and perhaps places for the tanning and dye of fabrics.”
The key identifies number “15” as “Place of discovery of the ‘Young Man of Mothia’ statue.” That statue is displayed in the Whitaker Museum. The museum’s brochure describes it as “a masterpiece of Greek sculpture of Sicily.”

12:57 PM - Mozia: covered work area for Industrial Area and Place of Discovery.

12:57 PM - Mozia: more ruins to right, probably Place of Discovery.

Then our attention turned back to the "Cappiddazzu" Sanctuary.

1:03 PM - Mozia: sign, in English for "The 'Cappiddazzu' Sanctuary - The Temple of Melqart/Heracles"; the English text reads:

"One of the historical excavation areas of the joint Expedition of the Superintendency of Antiquities of Western Sicily and the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ was the one of the Sanctuary called ‘Cappiddazzu’ in which Vincenzo Tusa, resuming the excavations of Joseph Whitaker, clarified the sequence and architectural sequence of the major Motyan temple. Located in one of the highest spot[s] of the island, about 5 m above sea level, the Sanctuary of ‘Cappiddazzu’ rises not far from the Northern Gate along the road that led inside the island. The Sanctuary, in its most recent configuration, consists of a rectangular enclosure and a temple, facing towards the east.

"1. The open-air cult area - 8th-6th centuries BC (fig. 1)

"The area occupied by the temple was destined to worship from the second half of the 8th [century] BC, at the time of the first urban stage of Motya (Motya IV), as evidenced by a series of offering pits dug into the rock (fig. 1), discovered under later structures. The excavation trenches showed traces of burning and remains of animal bones, ashes, burnt earth and shreds of Punic and imported pottery dating back to the 8th-6th centuries BC. These findings allowed to reconstruct the first phase of use of the place of worship as an open-air area where were held animal sacrifices and were placed.

"2. The Archaic Temple - 6th-5th V century BC (fig. 2)

A second phase saw the erection of a sacred building with a rectangular plan (fig. 2), preserved only at the level of the foundations in rough, minute and not so well shaped stones, characterized by the presence inside of a circular well built with the same technique. This little temple, brought to light almost completely beneath the foundations of the successive monumental sacred building, had to be presumably open on the southern side and is approachable [sic!] in size and proportions to Shrine C14 in the Area of the Kothon and Shrine A at the Tophet. It was built in the 6th century BC and remained in use until the 5th century BC.

"3. The tenemos and the temple of the most recent phases - 6th-4th centuries BC (figs. 4-5)

"The tenemos surrounding the sacred area, erected in the third constructional phase of the Sanctuary (fig. 4), had a rectangular shape and was built with squared blocks of calcerenite resting directly on the bed-rock; some sections of the wall of the enclosure are missing, but it is possible to reconstruct its perimeter, which measures 27.40 x 35.40 m (52 x 68 cubits); finds and building technique suggest a dating to the 6th century BC. Building materials (in particular limestone blocks with Egyptian gorge) of the third phase of the Sanctuary, of this the plan is unknown, were reused in the foundations of the main building with three naves of the following fourth phase. Precisely, the presence of these blocks inserted in the foundations of the transversal wall of the more recent temple, led V. Tusa to postulate the existence of a monumental building already in the third phase, which he dated to the mid[dle] of the 5th century BC, later rebuilt in the shape of the sanctuary currently visible. The temple of the fourth and final phase is also a monumental construction (fig. 5),  consisting of four foundation walls oriented northwest-southeast in a longitudinal direction, comprising three naves set perpendicularly to the north-west side of the tenemos, where the temple entrance opened. The sacred building is, in fact, facing east, with an entrance monumentalized by two high steps flanked by two doors and two pillars in it own right (fig. 6), a common feature also [of] other Motyan cultic building identified by the Mission of Sapienza University in Area C, which has its roots in the Near Eastern tradition of the Phoenician sacred architecture. The central nave is divided, about two-thirds of its length, by a transversal wall, which was probably used to delimit the adyton, whose west wall, however, is not preserved, because it was removed in the 4th century BC, when this sector of the Sanctuary suffered a systematic dispossession by the users of the prospective industrial area. It seems, therefore, very probable that the statue of the 'The Motya Charioteer' (fig. 8), found by the archaeologists of the University of Palermo a few tens of meters away from the 'Cappiddazzu' among heaps of stone material, came precisely from the temple area. The north-eastern side aisle has inside, at the western end, a well with a square entrance formed by well-worked blocks, thus preserving the oldest tradition of the well opened inside the place of worship and providing a  interesting indication about the salvific nature of the sanctuary's god, for the cult of which it was necessary a direct and immediate access to fresh water. At the north-western corner of the sacred precinct, there is a rectangular installation (1.25 x 0.60 x 0.395 m), held by a sandstone slab on which three circular holes open (fig. 7), the central[-]most large (0.35 m) and connected to the side by small channels; the structure is surrounded by a row of squared blocks. In the interpretation of Vincenzo Tusa, according to a typology of Punic alrars well known in Western Sicily. The most recent architectural phase of the  'Cappiddazzu' Sanctuary was interpreted by Vincenzo Tusa as belonging to a well-attested typology in the Punic world, that of the three-cell rectangular temples, well known in Western Sicily. The other structures present in the tenemos, especially in its eastern side, are attributable to various periods, even very late: after the breaking of the last temple the area of the Sanctuary is reoccupied in Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods (by a church and a mosque), becoming the center of the late-ancient town of Motya and preserving the cultic destination over the centuries, as shown by the construction of a Norman church dedicated to San Pantaleo, a figure that assumes in the name an attribute attested in the Greek toponym of the island (παντελεήμονας, 'pantaleimonis'. 'all merciful')."

An adyton (meaning “not to be entered” in Greek) was a restricted area within the cella (inner chamber) of a Greek or Roman temple. The adyton was frequently a small area at the farthest end of the cella from the entrance.
The adjective salvific means having the intent of power to save or redeem.
A toponym is a place name. 

12:59 PM - Mozia: part of sign, in Italian, for the 'Cappiddazzu' Sanctuary showing figure 2 "Plan of the second phase of the temple."

Then, after completing a clockwise circuit around the island, we came back to the G. Whitaker Museum.

1:11 PM - Mozia: G Whitaker Museum - sign with same map we had carried with us, including the same key, part of which is at the top left here).

MT 1:12 PM - Mozia: G Whitaker Museum - "The Youth of Mozia" statue.

1:11 PM - Mozia: G Whitaker Museum - sign for "The Youth of Mozia"; text reads:

"475-450 B.C.

"Inv. No. IG4310

"H[eight] 181 [cm] (Original height 194 [cm])

"Coarse-grained white marble with crystalline granules, probably from east. Traces of polychrome paint. the feet and arms are missing, though part of the left hand is there. The head has been rejoined.

"A man stands with his weight on his left leg and his right foot forward with the leg slightly bent. He wears a long chiton with ample folds, girdled high on the chest with a broad horizontal sash with two holes where an ornament was affixed.

"The head has [sic! = was] pierced with a number of holes for the attachment of a head covering and nape of the neck are covered with a single row of curls.

"From the way the shoulder muscles are curved it is possible to divine the position of the arms: the right arm was stretched forward, while the left was bent at the elbow: the left hand can be seen resting on the hip. The statue was found on the island of Mozia in October 1979 under a heap of earth and rubble, not in situ. The breakages and the chipping of the surface were caused by its being dragged from its original position in antiquity, and it has been further damaged by the rubble piled on top of it. It was made by a Sicilian/Selinunte workshop, probably for a Phoenician of a local Greek."

The most exceptional piece on display in the museum is Il Giovinetto di Mozia (The Young Man or Youth of Mozia), also known as the Motya Charioteer. It was found under a pile of rubble in Zone K, the ancient industrial area.
This life-size statue was carved from marble from Asia Minor and depicts a male figure with a long, pleated chiton, fastened at chest height by a belt. This work is believed to have been created by an important Greek artist in the first half of the 5thth century BC, but neither the identity of the young man depicted (a charioteer or a god) nor the location in which the statue was originally displayed on the island is known.
A chiton (Neo-Latin derived from the Ancient Greek khitōn, meaning tunic) is a form of tunic that fastens at the shoulder, worn by men and women of ancient Greece and Rome.

1:12 PM - Mozia: G Whitaker Museum - drawing of a wall with rounded crenellations at the top.

1:12 PM - Mozia: G Whitaker Museum - photo of those two crenellations.

At this point, Don's camera ran out of battery power. (Apparently, it didn't charge while he was recording photos in his notebook the night before.)

Then we reboarded our boat to return to the mainland.

MT 2:08 PM - View of windmill as our boat entered the channel to the dock.

MT 2:09 PM - View of windmill as our boat entered the channel to the dock (telephoto 83 mm).

After our driver Bruno took us back to the Piazza del Popoli in Marsala, we decided to visit the nearby Cathedral.

From the Piazza del Popoli, we headed north on Via Vespri, thinking that a green dome we saw in that direction was for the Cathedral.  When we came to Piazza Mameli and saw that we were mistaken about the green dome, we turned eastward toward the Cathedral, passing from the square through the Porta Garibaldi.

MT 3:00 PM - Marsala: view, from Piazza Mameli, of Porta Garibaldi, through which we passed on our way to the Cathedral; the white sign below the niche to the right of the portal said "Porta Garibaldi" and the one below the niche to the left said "Il Maggio 1860" (11 May 1860).

The Porta Garibaldi is one of the gates of the city of Marsala, famous for the passage of Giuseppe Garibaldi and his “Thousand” on 11 May 1860. The gate was originally called “Porta di Mare” (Sea Gate), since it was erected toward the sea in 1685 at the behest of Charles II, King of Spain and of the Kingdom of Sicily. When Garibaldi and his Thousand landed in Marsala in 1860 on his way to the unification of Italy, he declared it a “free” city, no longer part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and annexed to the Kingdom of Italy. After his departure, the city decided to rename the famous arch after him. The gate, now well preserved, has become a tourist destination, as well as a symbol of the historic city center of Marsala.
The Latin inscription above the door reads “Dominus custodial introitu et exitu tuum” (which can be translated as “Entrust to God the entrance and exit to the city” or “May the Lord guard your comings and goings”). Above that is still a crowned eagle, symbol of the Spanish Habsburg house. To the sides of the portal are aedicule coves that must have held statures in the past. 

MT 3:12 PM - Marsala: view, from Piazza della Republica, of Cathedral - west façade.

The Duomo de Marsala (Cathedral of Marsala), also known as Chiesa Madre di Marsala (Mother Church of Marsala) or in the local dialect Matrice or Madrice, is dedicated to St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury. The cult of Thomas Backet was introduced in Marsala during the Normal period.
The west façade overlooks the Piazza della Republica (Square of the Republic) and the adjacent Via Giuseppe Garibaldi to the north, and on its north side is the “Piazza Maggio” (May Square, probably after the entrance of Garibaldi in May 1860). The lower part of the west façade is in Baroque style, while the upper part and the bell tower were completed a century later are also in Baroque style.
The basilica is attested from the first half of the 2nd century, in the Byzantine era, until the suppression of the Diocese of Lilybaeum (the ancient city corresponding to toady’s Marsala) in the 9th century, in the Arab era. Since 1966, the titular Diocese of Lylybaetana was re-established; so the Chiesa Madre holds the title of cathedral.
The Norman reconstruction of the basilica was probably on the site of the primitive Christian basilica. According to tradition, the Norman basilica was built around 1176, when Marsala was ruled by the Diocese of Val di Mazara. From the 15th century, in the Aragonese era, it came under the influence of Renaissance style. The Norman basilica was enlarged three times in the period 1497-1590. In the Bourbon era, in the first half of the 18th century, the roofs were renovated. During the 18th and 19th centuries, several changes were made, making the church closer to the Sicilian Baroque style. In 1893, the dome collapsed, and the church was reopened 10 years later with a temporary roof. In 1950, today’s dome was rebuilt; it was recently renovated in 2016.

We found out that the Cathedral was closed until 4 pm.

We remembered that, on the way to boat dock for Mozia that morning, our driver Bruno had pointed out the Cantine Florio winery.

9:46 AM - Marsala: view, from side window of van, of gateway to Cantine Florio.

So, we looked up the address, Via Vincenzo Florio 1,  on Lara's cell phone and put it into the car's GPS.

When we got to the Cantine Florio, we found that they had a (free) tour (in English) and wine tasting that started at 4 pm.

The Cantine Florio (Florio Wine Cellars) was founded in Marsala in 1833 by Vincenzo Florio, Sr. (1799-1868). His winery was located between the ones of John Woodhouse and Benjamin Ingham, the original British pioneers in the Marsala wine trade. Florio became the first Italian producer of Marsala wine. He built splendid cellars in the town’s tuff rock in which to produce and conserve the wine.
The Cantine is no longer just a place where unique wines are produced, but also a venue open to visitors. It houses oak barrels where Marsala Florio wines age. The Cantine, with its high arched naves and tuff stone flooring, presents four different climatic environments with varying temperatures and humidity levels and different influences from the sea. As you get closer to the sea, the temperature drops and the level of humidity increases. The closer to the sea, the more the Marsala wines are enriched with undertones of seaweed and savory tastes. The further you go toward the top of the Cantine, the stronger the influence of temperatures and the more the humidity decreases, adding complex tertiary aromas to the wines. Vats, barrels, and casks of different sizes are arranged in a continuous line. Which constantly changes according to the Wine Maker’s intuitions. New types of wood alternate with old and generous ones, dripping hints of caramel and salt, in all sizes, from the magnificent giant vats near the entrance to small containers holding just a few hectoliters.
Florio has traditionally produced its Marsala wines using only Grillo grapes grown along the coast of Marsala. Only grapes from native varieties grown in the province of Trapani are used These vineyards, located at a low altitude to protect them from strong winds, look out to the sea, absorbing its saltiness and heat. The grapes are harvested by hand once they have reached the perfect degree of ripeness, as instructed by the Agronomist and Oenologist. 

The large room where the tour group assembled was decorated with posters of Florio wines through the ages.

MT 3:50 PM - Marsala:  poster with Florio S.O.M. (mild telephoto 78 mm).

To distinguish Florio aged beverages from the products of lesser age, the wine received a suffix of the initials S.O.M., standing for Superior Old Marsala. The letters S.O.M. are seen on the vintage wine poster from 1915.

MT 4:02 PM - Marsala:  vintage poster with Florio wine bottle and glass (telephoto 97 mm).

This poster shows a bottle of the Florio Marsala wine with the graphics designed for the brand's historic label, now recognizable throughout the world, along with a wine glass and the inscription above that translates “the marsala of the centuries.”

MT 4:02 PM - Marsala:  display near start of tour, with huge vat and smaller barrels and casks: the sign at the bottom of the vat translates "Wine presented at the World Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915."

MT 4:07 PM - Marsala:  our guide for the English tour, with display of huge vat and smaller barrels.

MT 4:25 PM - Marsala:  high arched nave lined with large barrels.

MT 4:37 PM - Marsala: 300 liter barrel labeled "S.O.M. Dolce Riserva [Sweet Reserve]  1939" (telephoto 75 mm).

The tour ended with a wine tasting.

 

MT 4:42 PM - Marsala: Lara in arched tasting room with 3 glasses of Marsala wine and tray with 3 small pastries paired with the wines.

MT 4:43 PM - Marsala: Lara in arched tasting room with 3 glasses of Marsala wine and tray with 3 small pastries paired with the wines.

MT 4:43 PM - Marsala: table in tasting room with 3 glasses of Marsala wine and tray with 3 small pastries for each visitor, and our guide at far end.

MT 5:04 PM - Marsala: on  the way out after the tasting, MT with large wine barrel (1700 liter according to the label).

We returned to Seawater Hotel, where we ate dinner (included).