Idée #744 – Exploring the archaeological site of Morgantina in Sicily
The site of Morgantina, in Sicily, presents the traces of a protohistoric and ancient settlement, inhabited by the Sicanes and then the Sicles. Hellenized from the 6th century BC under the influence of the Chalcidian colonists of Catania, the city was taken by King Szekler Doukétios who razed it. The city rises under the tyranny of Timoléon. In the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, Morgantina mainly derived its prosperity from agriculture. The city, which had sided with the Carthaginians, was severely damaged by the Romans during the Second Punic War. Subsequently, the city declines until it no longer forms a city at the time of Strabo.
The city was excavated in 1955, showing the evolution of the settlement for a period of about a millennium, from prehistory to Roman times. The most easily visited area dates from the middle of the 5th to the end of the 1st century BC, the golden age of the city.
The archaeological area covers an area of more than twenty hectares. Organized according to a Hippodamian system, it presents the remains of several public buildings, mainly articulated around the Piazza dell ‘Agora (gymnasium or stoa of the North), Stoa East and West, the prytanée, the ekklesiasterion, the sanctuary of the “Grand Fourneau “, the double Agora, the public granary, the theater or koilon and the Roman Slaughterhouse, as well as the foundations of important dwelling houses, magnificent mosaics (casa of the “Doric capital”, “the Ganymedan mosaic », of the « magistrate »…).
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Morgantina, Sicily, Italia
