Selinunte - Acropolis

The Strada dei Templi leads from the eastern temples over to the Acropolis. On its way it winds past the village of Marinella and crosses the valley of the Gorgo di Cottone near the silted-up ancient harbor. The visitor approaches the east side of the wall of the Acropolis with its massive square stone blocks and then comes to the watchman's lodge, where our tour begins.

The Acropolis is ringed by a defensive wall, which on the east side certainly dates from soon after the place was founded in the seventh-sixth centuries B.C., and on the other sides from the Carthaginian period, post-409 B.C. The Acropolis covers an area of 17 hectares/42 acres and is pear-shaped in plan. The lay-out of the buildings is governed by a road running