The park, about 270 hectares large, is one of the largest archaeological sites in the Mediterranean with a continuity of life that extends from the VII to IV centuries BC.
The archaeological evidence inside, it documents not only the refinement of the Doric style achieved by the Templar workshops of Sicily between VI and V century b.c. but are also the expression of an advanced urban development typical of the most important Greek colonies in ancient time.
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Opening days
Open every day
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Opening times
Selinunte Archaeological Park
from October 28, 2024 to March 30, 2025,
from 9:00 to 17:00 (The ticket office closes at 15:30).From 1 April to 30 April 2025
09.00 - 19.00 (ticket office closed at 18.00)From 1 May to 15 September 2025
09.00 - 20.00 (ticket office closed at 19.00)Grifeo Castle
From Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 7.30pm (last entry at 7pm). For Sundays and holidays the last entry will be at 1.30pm with afternoon visits by reservation. Monday closed.
Caves of Cusa
can be visited by reservation
Satyr Museum
From 9.00 to 19.45 ticket office closes 19.15
Archaeological sites of Pantelleria
(Acropolis, Mursia, Sesi, Lake of Venus, Scauri)
Free admission - Web Selinunte Archaeological Park, Cave di Cusa and Pantelleria. Archaeological area of Selinunte
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The colony was founded around 650 BC by the inhabitants of Megara Hyblaia and called Selinous taking the name from selinon, the wild parsley that still grows along the banks of the river which brings the same name, known by its modern name of Modion.
The urban area was built on two hilly plateaus bordered on the west by the Selinus-Modionand the Gorgo-Cottone river on the east side.
On the southern plateau, facing the sea, stands the fortified acropolis, where there are templar buildings and dwellings, while further north on the hill in Manuzza,the polygonal agora and a huge area of settlement have been identified.
The presence of the two rivers, whose estuary was used in both cases as a canal and a port, had to ensure to the city flourishing trade, which determined its
development for about two and a half centuries.
In the eastern part of the Acropolis there are several temple structures with colonnades: the oldest buildings are Temples C and D, dating from around the middle of the 6th century BC. later, during the first half of the next century, Temples A and O were also erected.
Temple B, which dated about the middle of the 3rd century BC, was a building without a colonnade and it chronologically closes the series of temples built on the Acropolis.
Proceeding eastwards, past the Gorgo-Cottone, the Eastern Hill hosts a large sacred area: here you can enjoy the remains of Temple G, a building dedicated to Zeus and also one of the largest Greek temples ever built.
Its construction was started at the end of the VI century BC and probably never completed.
Temple F, dated about a decade later, presents more modest plan solutions but it was decorated with sculpture of the highest order.
Metopes depicting Athena and Dionysus grappling with the Titans are famous and now hosted in Antonino Salinas Museum in Palermo.
Where
Piazzale Iole Bovio Marconi, 1 - Marinella di Selinunte - Castelvetrano (TP)
Visiting Rules
Face masks strongly reccommended. Find out more