Photos of the Ancient Greek Selinunte Temples Ruins

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Photos of the Ancient Greek Selinunte Temples Ruins Archaeological site, Sicily. The Temple of Hera, Temple E, F & S. Photos by Photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Ancient Greek Selinunte Temples Ruins

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Photos of the Greek Temples of Selinunte, Sicily.

Selinunte & Magna Graecia

Because the soil in Greece is rocky with low fertility, the Ancient Greek City States struggled to expand. To solve the problem that created colonies in Ionia and across the Mediterranean to Southern Italy and Sicily. These colonies were known as Magna Graecia or Greater Greece.

With more fertile land the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia often grew wealthier than their mother Greek City States. In their turn the colonies of Magna Graecia founded new cities.

Founding of Selinunte

Selinute was founded a colony from the Sicilian city of Megara Hyblaea (a colony of Megara in Greece) around 550BC.

By 409 BC Selinunte had grown in to vast city with a population of the 30,000 inhabitants, excluding slaves. A powerful and wealthy city, Selinunte possessed great resources for war both by land and sea. It boasted large stores of wealth accumulated in its many temples, five in the acropolis alone.

Destruction of Selinunte

As Selinunte grew in power it would have come into conflict with rival Phoenician traders from Carthage. Looking to expanding their trading influence the Carthaginian started colonising Sicily. This led in 409 BC to a massive Carthaginian army of around 100,000 men attacking Selinunte. The city was overwhelmed and 16,000 inhabitants were killed and a further 5,000 were taken as prisoners to be sold as slaves.

Decline of Selinunte

Although Selinunte was partial re-inhabitaed it never re-gained it glory. In the first Punic War, in 250 BC, Selinunte was again destroyed by the Carthaginians and was never rebuilt.

Selinunte Archaeological Site

Today Selinunte is a vast archaeological site, most of which has not been excavated. Several imposing temples have been rebuilt and the acropolis has been excavated. The site is so large that a buggy service takes visitors between the Temples and the acropolis.