Acropolis - Selinunte

To the Acropolis the road runs along the old impressive walls that defended the acropolis.

These city walls were built at a later time, which is why some of the buildings had to make way, as archaeological research has shown. Some archaeologists think that the walls date from the Punic period or just before.
Only part of the acropolis has been excavated, mainly the part where the prestigious center with the remains of five temples is located. On the foundations of temples A and O, a Byzantine fortress was built with the remains of these temples.

The acropolis has an orthogonal street pattern , straight streets so that the neighborhoods are divided into rectangles. In the center you can see the remains of a number of houses in Punic style (North African style), probably built after the destruction of 409 BC by the Punics. There are also some interesting details to see, such as a sign of Tanit laid in mosaic stones, a piece of surviving plasterwork and the opening of a water basin called bagnarola .

Impressive defenses have been built on the north side of the acropolis, with large walls, a gate and a bridge. The walls and bridge probably date from the same period as the outer walls and were built with the remains of older structures . On the other side of the bridge were more urban neighborhoods where most of the economic and social life of ordinary people took place. Only a very small part of these neighborhoods have been excavated and new excavations are still underway. During the last one in 2011, large parts of a craft district were excavated.

Willem Vandenameele