19 Sep MARSALA and Selinunte

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 Don and MT’s trip to Sicily in 2005 will have “2005” at the beginning of the caption. Photos from any other source (such as the public domain Wikimedia Commons), occasionally used for clarification, indicate that source in the caption.

After breakfast at Seawater Hotel in Marsala, around 8:30 am, we drove toward Selinunte, which Google said was a trip of 33,9 miles (54 minutes) by car, with Lara driving.

Using the car's GPS took us off the main road (SS115)  onto narrow and sometimes unpaved roads (possibly after we had made a wrong turn, we thought). So the trip took much longer.

On the way back to Marsala, Don insisted on staying on SS115 dir and SS115, as shown on his road map, regardless of where the car's GPS said to go. (The GPS on Lara's cell phone was no better.) That made the trip much easier and faster.

We arrived in Selinunte shortly before noon, having taken considerably more that the 54 minutes.

Selinunte (Old Greek σελῑνος. romanized Selinus. Silinte in Sicilian), in the province of Trapani, is located on the southwest coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Selinunte River.
The date of the founding of Selinunte is the subject of debate: ancient sources give 628.627 BC or 651 BC or around 654 BC. Modern specialists favor the first two of those. Archaeological discoveries do not allow one to decide between those two dates.
The city was founded mainly by settlers from Megara Hiblea, an ancient Greek colony in Sicily. Research now suggests that Corinthians and Megarians from Megara Nisea also participated in its founding. (Megara is a city on the outskirts of Attica, Greece; not far away was the port of Nisea.)
The colony prospered throughout the 6th century BC and built majestic temples on its acropolis. As the settlement grew, a 1,200 -meter-long wall was built around the acropolis.
At its peak, the city may have had 30,000 inhabitants, not counting slaves, and enjoyed commercial and cultural influence throughout western Sicily.

The ancient city of Selinunte, on a hill north of the Acropolis, was destroyed by the Carthaginians in 490 BC and largely forgotten. After the destruction of the city, this ancient part was used as a necropolis (burial place)by those inhabitants who remained. This area has been the subject of archaeological excavations only in recent years.
What remained of Selinunte was a Carthaginian possession at the beginning of the First Punic War (264-241 BC), and its territory was a theater of military operations. Around 250 BC, the Carthaginians decided to concentrate their defense elsewhere and most of the inhabitants were taken to Liblea (modern Marsala). In 241 BC, the inhabitants of Selinunte razed it to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Roman army. After that, the city was never rebuilt, and was never occupied again. An earthquake destroyed the remains of the ancient city, and it was not rediscovered until 1551. For centuries, it served as a quarry. However, a change occurred when the first foreign travelers arrived in Sicily and spread Selinunte in their drawings. Archaeologists took over starting in 1809. At that time, only one column remained standing in Temple G. Later archaeologists undertook more excavations. Finally, an archaeological park was created in the 1980s, by expropriation of land from 80 owners.

At 11:36 AM, we bought tickets for the Archaeological Park of Selinunte, €8 each.

MT Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 11:55 AM -  Don with sign across entrance for "Parco Archaeologico de Selinunte" (Archaeological Park of Selinunte).

The Archaeological Park of Selinunte, one of the largest archaeological sites in Europe, contains many temples, the oldest dating back to 550 BC, with five built on the acropolis.

Selinunte: reconstructed plan of ancient Selinunte,  as postulated by French archaeologists  Hulot and Fougères in their book published in 1910, showing Acropolis on ancient coastline, with harbors to its left and right, and Eastern Hill at top right (By Hulot, Fougeres - Book: Selinonte, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121423476 .

Selinunte: Dutch map of the archaeological park, showing  3 temples (E, F, and G) on the Eastern Hill (Oostheuvel) near the entrance (Ingang), and 5 (A, B, C, D, and O) on the Acropolis, and the Necropolis north of the Acropolis (By WiDi - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25530315).

 

 

MT 1:56 AM - Selinunte: part of map, near entrance, showing (left to right) Gaggera Hill with Temple M, Antiquarium, Sanctuary of Malophoros, and Sanctuary of Hera; Acropolis with North Gate and Temples A, B, C, D, and O; Eastern Hill with 3 temples (E, F, and G) and Baglio Floro museum; Entrance (Ingresso).

Near the entrance, we first came to the Eastern Hill, starting with Temple E.

11:57 AM - Selinunte: Temple E - long south side and east end (mild telephoto 58 mm).

Temple E is the most recent of the three on the Eastern Hill, dating back to 460-450 BC. Considered one pf the finest examples of Doric architecture in Sicily, it has a plan very similar to Temples A and O on the Acropolis. It is a peripteral* temple with six by fifteen columns. Due to its dimensions (26 x 68 m), it is the second largest temple on the site alter Temple G. It was probably sacred to the goddess Hera, wife of Zeus. Its current appearance is the result of anastylosos (reconstruction using the original material) carried out in 1956-59. Numerous traces of the stucco that originally covered it remain. The temple is characterized by multiple staircases, creating a system of successive levels. Ten steps lead to the entrance on the east side. A Doric frieze at the top of the walls in the naos** consisted of metopes*** depicting people, with the heads and naked parts of women made up of marble and the rest from local stone.
*A peripteral temple is a type of Greek or Roman temple surrounded by a portico with columns. It is surrounded by a colonnade on all four sides of the cella (naos), creating a four-sided arcade.
** A naos or cella is the inner chamber of Greek and Roman temples.
*** A metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order. A triglyph is a tablet in a Doric frieze with three vertical grooves, alternating with metopes.

MT 12:00 PM - Selinunte: Temple E - long south side and better view of east end.

MT 12:03 PM - Selinunte: Temple E - long south side and better view of east end, with MT sitting on near corner.

12:04 PM - Selinunte: Temple E - interior, viewed from east end.

MT 12:05 PM - Selinunte: Temple E - interior, with MT standing by (altar?) near east end.

MT 12:08 PM - Selinunte: Temple E - MT sitting at base of one of the columns at top of steps on the east end.

MT 12:12 PM - Selinunte: Temple E - corner of  east end and north side.

12:08 PM - Selinunte: near Temple E - model of a cart used to transport building material.

12:09 PM - Selinunte: near Temple E - sign, in Italian and English, for "il trasporto - il carro (transport - the cart)"; English text reads:

"The cart is by far the most established means of transport in the Greek civilization even at the sites of monument construction. It was a very solid and functional vehicle that suited to the most diverse uses, including the transport of goods and the transport of medium-sized building elements. Despite its solidity and reliability, it presented some limits in the transport of extremely massive elements. Initially, the Greek cart was in fact two-wheeled while the four-wheeled wagon was without mobile front axle and was difficult to handle.

"Moreover, since drawing it required animal strength, it was difficult to manage especially in steep or sloping stretches of the route; it was probably used then only for short journeys. This is because a cart pulled by oxen necessarily had to travel on almost completely flat paths, with a maximum inclination of 3-4 percent. Beyond this inclination it was necessary to use sledges - that tanking advantage of the slopes of the ground - could slide on wooden rollers or planks braked by ropes and capstans. In any case, the cart played such a fundamental role in transport in the Greek age, what it was subject to various evolutions.

"From a single wooden platform on wheels, difficult to manage with a heavy weight and ungovernable in winding paths, it was afterwards equipped with various devices that made it lighter and more functional.

"The most important innovation was undoubtedly the introduction of the self-propelled front axle that made it possible to use this vehicle also in the roughest routes. The cart here rebuilt is of the latter type and follows with some small variations the model developed by M. Korres."

The drawing at the top right has the caption that reads: "Above, reconstruction scheme of a cart with mobile front axle. The introduction of this technological device enabled the cart to perform more complex manoeuvres when the route was not straight," The various part of the cart, including the "Self-propelled Front Axle" and "Reinforcements of the Front Axle," are labeled.

The two color drawings below that are labeled A and B. The caption to their left reads: "Right, reconstructive hypotheses of cart used to transport construction material: (A) fixed-front[-axle] cart on whose central axis blocks were hooked by means of U-shaped hollows, (B) an evolution of Metagens' and Chersiphon's machines to transport columns drums."

12:09 PM - Selinunte: near Temple E - sign, below the one for "il trasporto - il carro (transport - the cart)" on same posts, with map of Archaeological Park with a black label "You are here" and drawing of a cart pulled by oxen.

12:08 PM - Selinunte: near Temple E - sign, in Italian and English, for "il trasporto - la slitta (transport - the sled)"; English text reads:

"Another fundamental tool used to transport the building material from the quarry to the construction site was the sled. This means of transport, used since the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, was extremely functional and excelled in versatility in that it lent itself for the transport of both small blocks and larger ones.

"The sled was generally composed of interlocking wooden boards; the ends of the structure were turned upwards to facilitate movement and were connected to each other by wooden crossbars. It was an extremely light vehicle, specially designed to be disassembled and transported by carts from the construction site to the quarry where it was re-assembled and used again for subsequent transports.

"Quarries usually stood near the constructions to build and the route between the quarry and the construction site was almost straight.

"Once loaded with the building material, the sledges were drawn by oxen. In order to facilitate their sliding, wooden rollers or boards were placed under them, depending on the type of load. If the weight was light, wooden rollers were placed under the sledge, but if the weight was considerable then wooden planks were used since the rollers risked breaking and the movement was more manageable. In extremely rare cases the sled moved on wheels.

"The use of sled was preferred to the use of cart because the blocks placed on the latter rested on the whole surface discharging all the weight to the ground on several points of contact making it difficult to manage the vehicle. The transport on rollers, on the other hand, made the manoeuvre more fluid because it was performed through only two points of contact, the load on the roller and the roller on the ground.

"To further increase the management in the movement, the sled was harnessed with ropes generally linked to either capstans that regulated its speed or wooden pins fitted to the sides and to increase its stability during the movement."

At the top right is a drawing for "Sled for transporting construction material from the quarry to the construction site. When descending, a system of ropes and anchors was used to adjust the support of the load."

Below that is a drawing of a "Lock Case," "Cross Beam," "Curved Terminal," "Joint," and "Beam." Text below it reads: "The construction scheme of the sled above. The journey back to the quarry was carried out by dismantling the single parts of the sled that were then transported by pack animals or carts [illegible] behind."

Below that is a drawing of two pack animals, beams and cross beams.

Below that sign is a smaller sign with a map of the archeological park.

Then we moved on to  the ruins of Temple F.

12:10 PM - Selinunte: sign, in Italian and English, for "Tempio F - Collina orientale" (Temple F - eastern hill) with color overhead view of ruins of temples E, F, and G (from bottom to top)  set parallel to each other;  (text under "Temple F" caption, at top center, in Italian and English, is hard to read); at bottom center are and color photos of "Polychromy" and "Metope"; at far left are floorplan of Temple F and  color diagram of "Elevation."

Temple F, dating from 560-530 BC, is believed to have been dedicated to a mystery cult of Demeter or Dionysus, although it has been suggested that it was dedicated to Athena or Dionysus. It is the most ancient temple on the eastern hill and the smallest and most badly damaged of the three. Sadly, it is totally in ruins. Built in the archaic style, it was surrounded by 36 columns that were more than 90 m (29 ft) high. The vestibule had a second row of columns.

Ruins of Temple F (fluted columns) and Temple G in background (Dominio público, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=518137).

 

12:10 PM - Selinunte: part of same sign as above, in Italian and English, for "Tempio F - Collina orientale" (Temple F - eastern hill), with clearer overhead view and text under caption "Temple F" to its right, in which English text reads: "This temple from the late Archaic age (16 x 14 columns - m24.37 x 61.88) was possibly dedicated to Athena, Hercules, or Dionysus. The master builders tried, as in temple D of the urban sanctuary, to insert the traditional plan distinguished by a long, narrow cell[a] with a wide peristyle in a rectangle of less elongated proportions. This solution led to a sort of spatial conflict between the second row of columns on the east side and the front of the cell[a]. In a second phase, the space between the columns of the peristyle were closed by barriers higher than the stature of a man. It was perhps a security measure to achieve more secrecy regarding the conduct of the cults who practiced inside. From the temple comes two metope fragments, today kept at the 'A. Selinas' archaeological museum in Palermo, that depict episodes pertaining to giants."; crane replica and ruins of Temple G in background.

12:10 PM - Selinunte: reconstructed model of a crane.

12:10 PM - Selinunte: sign, in Italian and English, for "il cantiere - la grande gru" (the construction site - the big crane); the English text reads:

"In order to lift particularly heavy, bulky blocks in the large construction sites of classical antiquity, complex machines, true cranes were used which were the evolution of the simpler lifting machines such as the small crane.

"The big crane was not fixed directly the ground as were the smaller machines, but was placed upon large trunks used as tracks on which the machine could slide parallel to the portion [of] construction. in this way, it did not need to be dismantled constantly.

"Moreover, it exploited a more articulated system of ropes, levels, block and tackles and hoists in order to obtain the maximum weight reduction when lifting extremely heavy blocks.

"The large rods at the top of which the pulley system was mounted were fixed to a platform properly underpinned and ballasted with heavy stone blocks that acted as a counterweight when the blocks were being moved.

"The lifting system used a hoist placed horizontally between the main beams of the crane and operated by long levers (cranks) inserted into the wooden wheels at the ends of the hoist drum.

"The crane, reproduced in real scale, is composed of converging rods made of wooden beams measuring 12 metres with a section of 35 x 45 cm.

"The arms of the crane are joined together by wooden crosspieces clamped with joints to the main beams and by a metal dowel at the top of the machine.

"The base is made of three levels of wooden beams placed orthogonally to one another and ends with a long plank on which the counterweights were placed. In ancient times, these counterweights were the very stone blocks waiting to be installed.

"The model we reproduced derives from classical literary texts, especially Vitruvius, as well as iconographic sources. It also relies on the various reconstruction hypotheses that have been suggested by scholars and in particular by the Greek architect Manolis Korres."

The English captions for the drawings at the right read:

"Above, schematic drawing of a crane with its main components.

"On the right, drawing of a treadmill crane, a machine that was used during the 

roman period to build large temples, bridges and aqueducts."

12:11 PM - Selinunte: signs, by reconstructed model of a crane, for "Il Cantiere - the construction site" and "Il tempio dorico - Doric temple" (text too hard to read) with part of Temple E in left background and part of Temple F ruins at right.

12:12 PM - Selinunte: ruins of Temple F and Temple G, each with one column standing Column fluted in F, but not in G).

12:12 PM - Selinunte: ruins of Temple G, with one column standing Column (not fluted).

After finishing the Eastern Hill, we stopped at the Antiquarium Baglio Floro, around 1 pm. It featured an exhibition called "Malóphoros a hundred years later."

The Antiquarium Baglio Floro, also known as Antiquarium Selinunte, is a small museum located inside the Selinunte Archaeological Park, near Temple E. Exhibited here are some collections coming from excavations in the Archaeological Park, accompanied by illustrative didactic apparatus and reconstructive models. However, much of Selinunte’s materials are at the Museum Salinus in Palermo.
Last year (2023), an exhibition entitled “Malóphoros a hundred years later” was inaugurated in the museum area of the Antiquarium Baglio Floro. It displayed hundreds of finds recovered from excavation campaigns since 1888 and as recently as 2015 from the Gaggera area and from the eastern Necropolis of Selinunte.
In this place, inhabitants of Selinunte built a series of sanctuaries. The most famous of them is the Sanctuary of Demeter Malphoros, also known as Sanctuary of Malóphorus. The sacred area was discovered during excavations in 1903-05. It is situated on the Gaggera Hill, west of the Greek city of Selinunte. It is an extraurban sanctuary, separated from the urban center and the Acropolis by the Modione River (ancient Selinus River). A path runs from the Acropolis, over the Modione River, to the west hill (Gaggera Hill). This sanctuary was dedicated to a fertility goddess usually identified with Demeter. “Malóphoros” is an epithet interpreted as meaning either “fruit bearer,” “apple bearer,” or “pomegranate bearer.” The latter makes sense considering the pomegranate fruit featured prominently in Homer’s Hymn to Demeter.

MT 1:06 PM - Selinunte: Baglio Florio museum - sign with quotation attributed to Jean Paul Sartre.

“Interreogmmo i temple di Selinunte, il loro silenzio aveva piu peso di tante parole.” (We questioned the temples of Selinunte; their silence had more weight than many words.)
This quotation is attributed to Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, upon visiting Selinune. During a trip to Italy in 1935, long-time lovers Sartre and De Beauvoir visited Selinunte. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, describing his Neoclassical Grand Tour of Sicily in his Italienische Reise (1816/1817/1829), had renounced Selinunte, since he knew that it had been devastated and no temple was standing. De Beauvoir—and not Sartre as commonly believed—wrote a memoir of their visit, in the second volume of her Mémoires, dedicated to Sartre.
This quotation is found at the entrance to the Archaeological Park of Selinunte and at the entrance to the exhibitions at the Baglio Florio museum.

At that point, we started on the long walk from the Eastern hill to the Acropolis. However, we soon met up with Lara and Chiara, singe Lara had got permission to drive our car within the Archaeological Park. After they took a look at the temples of the Eastern Hill, we set off by car to the Acropolis.

Selinunte: Plan of the Acropolis in the ancient city of Selinunte (De fr:Gustave Fougères (1863-1927) - http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/fougeres1910/0187, Dominio público, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20693961).

The Acropolis was located on a plateau near the mouth of the Modione River. The plateau ends next to the sea in the form of a fairly high cliff (30 m above the sea) that was easy to defend. It is on a terrace perpendicular to the coastal strip. As the colony of Selinunte prospered in the 6th century BC, it built five majestic temples (A, B, C, D, and O) on its acropolis. A wall 1,260m (4,132 ft) long and 3 m (10 ft) high was built around the Acropolis. With temples and public buildings, the Acropolis was the hub of public life. However, the majority of the population later abandoned the Acropolis to concentrate in the outer districts.

1:14 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - wall of the Acropolis from outside.

1:15 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - wall of the Acropolis from outside, from car window.

Lara and Chiara chose to  stay at snack bar near parking area, while Don and MT explored the Acropolis.

1:21 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT heading up steps from parking area to Temple C.

1:22 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT getting closer to Temple C.

MT 1:23 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - top of Temple C, south side; behind parts of fallen columns, some in drums.

1:22 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - Temple C, south side; in foreground are parts of fallen columns, some in drums.

Temple C, built around 580-550 BC in Doric style, possibly over a small pre-archaic temple, is the largest (24 x 63.7 m) and oldest peripteral temple on the Acropolis. It is believed that the temple could have been dedicated to Apollo or Hercules. It had 17 columns on the long sides and 6 on the façades. On the east façade, there was a double colonnade, with 4 columns on the interior row. The columns, 8.62 m high, rest on a four-tiered plinth and are partly monolithic and partly composed of drums. Columns vary widely in diameter, following a loose pattern with little regard for the rules of the Doric order, which had already become strict in mainland Greece. On the east side, there was an access staircase with 8 steps across the entire side. Part of the temple was restored in 1925-26 by anastylosis (using the original material) of 14 lateral columns and part of the architrave on the southern colonnade. In 1927-29, 12 complete columns with capitals and two incomplete ones were restored by anastylosis and erected on the north side.

 

1:23 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - top of Temple C, south side; behind parts of fallen columns, some in drums.

MT 1:23 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - Don with top of Temple C, south side; behind parts of fallen columns.

1:26 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - sign, in Italian and English, for "Tempio B - Acropoli" (Temple B - Acropolis, with fallen columns and part of Temple C in background; English text reads:

"Temple B [15.99x9.60 m] facing east and placed in the southern sector of the main urban sanctuary, is a Doric prostyle tetrastyle [with a porch of four columns on the main front] built on a podium made of two courses and with a platform consisting of three steps. A staircase on the main, east front led to the relatively short pronaos and deep cella, featuring the cult statue against the back wall. The temple can be dated, after recent excavations by the Institute of Fine Arts - NYU, to ca. 300 BCE, based on the materials (pottery and bronze coins) from the foundations and the leveling of the area prior to the construction of the temple and its altar to the east. The features of the cult practiced in association with Temple B appear to be Greek, although the lack of offerings associated with the building makes the identification of the deity hypothetical. The temple is more likely associated with the cult of Demeter, perhaps even as a couple with her daughter Kore, worshiped by both Greek and Punic people -- the latter a major presence in Selinunte at the time. The identification of the temple with the heroon of the philosopher Empedocles is an antiquarian conjecture that goes back to the French-German architect Jakob Ignaz Hittorff, in the early nineteenth century. Temple B represents one of the best examples of temple architecture in Sicily in the Hellenistic period and it is particularly notable for its extensive remains of polychromy, including the traces of blue and red on the entablature and of yellow on the steps of the platform."

The second part of the text, deals with "Polychromy" ; the English text reads:

"Many blocks of the Temple B, today conserved at the 'A. Salinas' Museum in Palermo, maintain large portions of polychrome [finish]ing, the [tri]glyphs, the [...] and the re[...] are blue, the [...] between  the [...] and the [...] are red, the g]...] [...] are white, [just] [like] the [plaster] on the columns. To the left, the [virtual] reconstruction of the Temple B [..] [Mertens] Sca[...] M. Lim[oncett]i - Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. Here to the side, the [...] and [imaginative] rendering of the eastern facade  of the Temple B [real]ized by [J.I.] [Hittorff] ([1851 [...]).

1:26 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT among ruins of Temple B, with crane in background.

1:27 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - more ruins.

1:28 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - sign for "Santuario Urbano - Acropoli" (Urban Sanctuary - Acropolis); English text reads:

"In the Southeastern sector of the Acropolis, the first temples P and  R (first half of VI century B.C.) had the simple form of the megaron. Towards the middle of VI century B.C., building of the sanctuary became the peripteral temple C with its large altar. Both were created after the eastern zone of the sacred area was enlarged through the construction of a mighty terraced wall on which stood an L-shaped stoa, forming the new eastern borders of the sanctuary. Towards the end of VI century B.C., the peripteral temple D, with an oblique altar in respect to the southeastern angle of the front, was added. Among the other sacred buildings, the altar with the triglyph decoration is worthy of note. Around the middle of V century B.C., further south towards the sea, a new area of worship saw the creation of two new temples, A and O, of which only temple A, along with its refined altar, was completed. In IV century B.C., the sacred areas were invaded by the Punic homes, and a Punic shrine was erected in the entrance of temple A. Before the city was abandoned (250 B.C.), the small temple B, noted for its colorful architectural elements, was built to the southeast of temple C. Between the Byzantine era and the High Middle Ages, a fortified building (castrum or Islamic Ribat) incorporated the temples A and O."

At the bottom left is a caption, in Italian and English, for "Scavi" "Excavations"; the English text reads:

"The first archaeological surveys of the temenos date back to 1822, when S. Angell and W. Harris started excavating temple C, unearthing the famous metope reliefs. Beyond F.S. Cavallari's excavations, at the end of the nine-teenth century, other important campaigns date back to the 20th century. These excavations, led by E. Gabrici, explored the terrace which extends between temple C and D to the stepped wall of the fortification. Later ex-cavations lead [sic!] by A di Vita, V. Tusa and D. Mertens explored this same area as well as the southern temenos."

At the bottom right is the caption for "Iconografia" "Iconography"; the English text reads:

"To the left, above, the view of Selinunte from the sea, and below, view of temples C and A from the east (J. Hulot - G. Fougères, 1910). Above, sketch of the reconstructed urban sanctuary (D. Mertens, 2006)."

1:28 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - more ruins.

MT 1:29 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - more ruins.

1:29 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - more ruins.

1:29 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - more ruins.

1:29 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - Temple C and more ruins.

MT 1:30 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - more ruins, with lower level.

MT 1:31 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - Don, with lower level of ruins.

1:30 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - sign for "Tempio D - Acropoli"; English text for "Temple D" reads:

"Temple D was created in the last quarter of VI century B.C., immediately to the north of temple C. The extension in length (dimensions 23,6x55.96) with respect to temple C was reduced to only 13 columns on the long sides. The second colonnade on the east side, characteristic of the Archaic period, was abolished and seems to merge with the front of the cell[a] thanks to a solution that forsaw [sic!] not only the two columns between the doors of the pronaos, but the doors themselves as semi-columns, The spatial relationships both inside the cell[a], as well as in the peristyle, remained unchanged. The building in its totality seems to represent the most evolved form of a peripteral temple from the Archaic period at Selinunte. The altar was positioned obliquely outside the southeast angle of the temple, a placement that could possibly be explained by the presence of numerous older structures in the pre-chosen area for the construction of the temple. We know from an inscription preserved at the 'A. Salinas' Museum in Palermo, which comes from the altar located between the temples C and D[,] that mention Apollo Paian and Athena, that the temple was dedicated to Athena."

At the bottom left is a caption for "Reconstruzione" "Reconstruction" with English text that reads:

"Hypothesis of reconstruction of the eastern facade of the Temple D. 

(graphical processing from D. Mertens, 2006)."

1:31 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - view from Temple D, back across to Temple E on Eastern Hill.

1:34 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - north side of Temple C.

1:34 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT taking photo toward north side of Temple C, at far left, with steps and parts of columns of Temple D in center.

MT 1:35 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - north side of Temple C, at left, with steps and parts of columns of Temple D at right.

MT 1:34 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT with parts of columns of Temple D (mild telephoto 58 mm).

MT 1:34 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT (sitting) with parts of columns of Temple D (mild telephoto 58 mm).

1:34 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - possibly parts of Temple A near Temple C and view toward sea.

1:37 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - sign for "Tempio C - Acropoli" (Temple C - Acropolis); English part of text reads:

"Temple C was erected in honor of Apollo, around the middle of VI century, B.C. (dimensions 23.63x63.77 m) with proportions of 6x17 columns. The north side of the temple was rebuilt between 1925 and 1927 and a second row of columns was placed at the front. A wide peristyle surrounds the elongated cell[a], similar to a megaron. The pronaos opens to a large portico with doors that are each individually maneuvered by three elements, as shown in the circular grooves of the tracks that are still visible in the doorway. At the center of the cell[a] was a table for sacrifices and offerings, while the statue of worship was placed in the far room, the dark  adyton. The Eastern facade was decorated by the famous figurative reliefs of the metopes, while the pediment of the tympanum brought to center a terracotta bas-relief of a giant Gorgon's head (both metopes and the Gorgoneion are kept in the 'A. Salinas' archaeological museum at Palermo). The pediments were decorated with a polychromus finish, the same that decorate the long lateral borders of the roof. In the eastern front a great altar was built. It was composed of a large platform (4.45x20.40 m), possibly with pediments for support, that was preceeded [sic!] by steps."

At the bottom left are captions for "Decorazioni" "Decorations"; the English text reads:

"The fictile decoration of the [frame? ("cornice" in Italian)] of the temple was composed of the cassetta and the sima, charcterized by polychrome motifs with palmettos and Doric leaves [Italian has "At the left, frontal sima of temple C"] (E. Gabrieli, 1933).

1:37 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - Temple C and parts of columns, possibly of Temple A, near sign for "Tempio C - Acropoli" (Temple C - Acropolis).

1:37 PM (same as at 1:26 PM) - Selinunte: Acropolis - sign for "Tempio B - Acropoli" (Temple B - Acropolis); English text reads:

"Temple B is (5.99x9.60 m) facing east and placed in the southern sector of the main urban sanctuary, is a Doric prostyle tetrastyle (with a porch of four columns on the main front) built on a podium made of two courses and with a platform consisting of three steps. A staircase on the main, east front led to the relatively short pronaos and deep cella, featuring the cult statue against the back wall. The temple can be dated, after recent excavations by the Institute of Fine Arts - NYU, to ca. 300 BCE, based on the materials (pottery and bronze coins) from the foundations and the leveling of the area prior to the construction of the temple and its altar to the east. The features of the cult practiced in association with Temple B appear  to be Greek, although the lack of offerings associated with the building makes the identification of its deity hypothetical. The temple is more likely associated with the cult of Demeter, perhaps even as a couple with her daughter Kore, worshiped by both Greek and Punic people -- the latter a major presence in Selinunte at the time. The identification of the temple with the heroon of the philosopher Empedocles is an antiquarian conjecture that goes back to the French-German architect Jakob Ignaz Hittorff, in the early nineteenth century. Temple B represents one of the best examples of temple architecture in Sicily in the Hellenistic period and is particularly notable for its extensive polychromy, including the traces of blue and red on the entablature  and of yellow on the steps of the platform."

Below that are captions for " Policromia"  "Polychromy" ; the English text reads:

"Many blocks of the Temple B, today conserved at the 'A. Salinas' Museum in Palermo, maintain large portions of polychrome [paint]ing, the [tri]glyphs, the [...] and the re[...] are blue, the [...] between  the [...] and the [...] are red, the g]...] [...] are white, [just] [like] the [plaster] on the columns. To the left, the [virtual] reconstruction of the Temple B [..] [Mertens] Sca[...] M. Lim[oncett]i - Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. Here to the side, the [...] and [imaginative] rendering of the eastern facade  of the Temple B [real]ized by [J.I.] [Hittorff] ([1851 [...]).

1:37 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - parts of columns, possibly of Temple B, near sign for "Tempio B - Acropoli" (Temple B - Acropolis).

1:37 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - parts of columns, possibly of Temple B, near sign for "Tempio B - Acropoli" (Temple B - Acropolis), with crane in background.

1:38 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT on path back down to where we had left Lara and Chiara at the snack bar, with village of Marinella and sea in distance.

1:38 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - view back to Temple E on Eastern Hill, with village of Marinella and sea at far right.

MT 1:39 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - view back to Temple E and ruins of Temples F and G on Eastern Hill;  in the foreground is the road we had taken from there to the Acropolis (telephoto 107 mm).

1:38 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - MT on path back toward sea, with village of Marinella in distance.

Marinella di Selinunte (By Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada - DGJ_2294 - Marinella, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18951679).

Marinella di Selinunte, also known as Marinella, is a village located by the Mediterranean coast, close to the archaeological area of Selinunte. It was founded at the end of the 19th century.

MT 1:28 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - view back toward sea, with village of Marinella in distance (mild telephoto 60 mm).

MT 1:38 PM - Selinunte: Acropolis - view back toward sea, with village of Marinella in distance (telephoto 133 mm).

2:35 PM - Selinunte: stone (coffin?) by snack bar.

2:35 PM - Selinunte: view from snack bar back up path to Temple C on Acropolis.

MT 2:47 PM - Selinunte: view from snack bar back up path to Temple C on Acropolis (telephoto 84 mm).

Then we headed back east and north to Marsala.

On the way back to Marsala, Don insisted on staying on SS115 dir and SS115, as shown on his road map, regardless of where the car's GPS said to go. (The GPS on Lara's cell phone was no better.) That made the trip much easier and faster.

When we got back into Marsala, where we needed directions by street, we used the GPS again, entering the address Via Trapani 300 for the Seawater Hotel, and it worked this time.

We ate dinner (included) back at the Seawater Hotel.