Shrine of Demeter Malophoros - Selinunte

To the west lies a special sanctuary, the sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros.

The sanctuary is located a short walk from the acropolis, on the other side of the Modione River. It is a unique shrine in the sense that it has no equal in the rest of the Greek world. Therefore, archaeologists believe that this sanctuary was created from a fusion of local Sikulian (Sicilian) and Greek religious traditions.

The site is walled, called the temenos, and within the site are a number of altars and the remains of a temple dedicated to Demeter Malophoros, a propyleum and an aqueduct that provided the sanctuary with water.

Just north of the sanctuary (to the right as you stand in front of it) were found the structures of a sanctuary dedicated to Zeus Meilichios and finally to the south (left) of the sanctuary another temple structure was found, in archaic style. This last shrine was reused and adapted by the Punics after they conquered Selinunte.

Willem Vandenameele