A single truncated fluted column rises towards a deep blue sky from the jumbled ruins of a collapsed Doric temple once dedicated either to the goddess Athena or to the god Dionysus within the ancient Greek city and port of Selinus or Selinous on the southwest coast of Sicily, Italy. The structure, now preserved as Temple F within the Selinunte Archaeological Park, was built between 550 and 540 BC and probably collapsed during earthquakes in the medieval era.
Selinunte, Sicily, Italy: a lone truncated fluted column rises towards a deep blue sky from the jumbled ruins of a Doric temple once dedicated either to the goddess Athena or to the god Dionysus within the ancient Greek city and port of Selinus or Selinous on Sicily’s southwestern coast. The structure, officially known as Temple F, lies with two other ruined temples east of the acropolis in the 570-hectare Selinunte Archaeological Park, the largest of its kind in Europe. Temple F, the smallest and oldest of the three, was built between 550 and 540 BC. Its peristyle, the row of columns forming a continuous porch around the building’s perimeter, measured x (203 x 80 ft), with six columns at the front and 14 on each side. Like all the Selinunte temples, Temple F is believed to have collapsed in earthquakes in the medieval era - long after Silenus had been captured and sacked by the Cathaginians in 409 BC and the site then finally abandoned. Silenus was founded in 651 or 628 BC by Greek colonists from Megara Hyblaea (modern Augusta in western Sicily), perhaps taking its name from wild celery (Greek: selinon) flourishing on the clifftop site. The city had become very prosperous by the 5th century BC, when most of its temples were built, but it then became embroiled in border disputes with the rival city of Segesta. Its end came after it formed an alliance with Syracuse against Carthage. In 409 BC, a 100,000-strong Carthaginian army mounted a 10-day siege, which ended with the city walls being razed, many buildings destroyed,16,000 of its citizens dead and 5,000 more taken prisoner. Only 2,600 people escaped. Although Silenus was later revived, the site was abandoned after Carthage moved its citizens to Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) in 250 BC.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Selinunte, Sicily, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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