Himera

Must-see attractions nearby: Santa Maria di Gesù San Giovanni degli Eremiti Archeological Museum San Cataldo La Martorana Palazzo Abatellis / Galleria Regionale della Sicilia Quattro Canti

Himera was - along with Selinunte on the south coast - the furthest west into Carthaginian territory that the Greek settlements penetrated. It achieved immense prosperity. Its most important citizen was the choral poet Stesichoros (his occupation of choral leader was also presumably the origin of his name), who treated the contents of the heroic sagas in a ballad-like form (around 600 B.C.).

The greatest hour of Himera's history arrived in 480 B.C. Replying to the tyrant Terillos's cry for help against the threat from Theron of Acragas (Agrigento), the Carthaginians landed under the command of Hamilcar, who was almost certainly in league with the Persian king, Xerxes, who attacked Greece at the same time.