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CulturalHeritageOnline: Archaeological area Morgantina

Archaeological area Morgantina


The ancient site of Morgantina offers visitors a picture of over a thousand years of history, from the foundation of the city in prehistoric times to its decline in the Roman imperial age. In internal Sicily, Morgantina is undoubtedly the best known ancient city in all its events, both in the periods of growth and well-being, and in times of defeat and abandonment.

In Morgantina two distinct areas can be identified, which correspond to the two main phases of the history of the city:

1) the ancient settlement and the Hellenistic - Roman one in Sella Orlando,

2) the oldest settlement, on the top called "the Citadel" , has its origins in the late age of b ronzo, when a group of emigrants from southern Italy found a city there. The inhabited nucleus on the Citadel survived for about five hundred years.

An excavation of considerable size was carried out at the thermal building in the adjacent Agnese district, dating from the third century BC, already partially investigated in the seventies, the resumption of the excavation allowed to determine the dimensions of the building and to identify all the rooms, of which the main ones are two rectangular rooms with barrel vaults and a rotunda covered by a hemispherical dome.

The last intervention involved the San Francesco Bisconti district, home to an important chthonic sanctuary, dedicated to Demeter and Kore, identified in 1979.
The sacred area unfolds on terraces facing east, towards the Citadel, each terrace (four identified ones, at different altitudes) houses a series of sacred buildings of various types and sizes, including some sacelli with niches and docks for depositions rituals.



Archaeological area Morgantina
Address: Contrada Morgantina, 94010
Phone: 093587955
Site: http://www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali/dirbenicult/database/page_musei/pagina_musei.asp?ID=40&IdSito=41

Location inserted by Culturalword Abco

Archaeological area Morgantina Map


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