Builders constructing a vast Doric temple around 2,500 years ago for the ancient Greek colony of Selinus or Selinous at Selinunte, Sicily, Italy, cut central slots in the massive column drums so they could be rotated on a pivot as they bedded down on sand - ensuring a perfect fit with the top of the next drum down. The temple, dedicated to Apollo or Zeus and now called Temple G, was the second largest in Sicily. Work began in 530 BC but it was still incomplete when Carthage sacked Selinus in 409 BC. It later collapsed, probably in a medieval earthquake.
Selinunte, Sicily, Italy: builders constructing a vast Doric temple around 2,500 years ago for the ancient Greek trading colony of Selinus or Selinous cut central slots in the massive column drums so they could be rotated on a pivot as they bedded down on a layer of sand - ensuring a perfect fit with the top of the next drum down. This pitted example of a stone column drum is among many fallen columns and blocks of cut stone lying jumbled amid the ruins of the collapsed temple, which was dedicated either to Apollo or Zeus, and is now known as Temple G. The structure is the largest of three ruined temples east of the acropolis in the 570-hectare Selinunte Archaeological Park. At 113m long, 54m wide and 30m high (371 x 177 x 98 ft), it is the second biggest ancient Greek temple in Sicily and in terms of layout, is second only to the Parthenon in Athens, with eight massive columns at the front, eight at the rear and 17 down each side. Each column was over 16m (53 ft) high, with a base diameter of (11 ft). Temple G, founded in 530 BC, was still unfinished, with many columns left unfluted, when Silenus was sacked by Carthage in 409 BC. Like other Selinunte temples, it probably collapsed in medieval earthquakes – centuries after the city was abandoned. Silenus was founded in 651 or 628 BC by Greek colonists, perhaps taking its name from wild celery (Greek: selinon) flourishing on the clifftop site. Silenus became prosperous, but border disputes with the rival city of Segesta and a subsequent alliance with Syracuse against Carthage provoked its downfall. In 409 BC, a 100,000-strong Carthaginian army mounted a 10-day siege, which ended with the city walls razed, many buildings destroyed,16,000 citizens dead and 5,000 more taken prisoner. Only 2,600 people escaped. A later revival ended in 250 BC when Carthage moved the city’s inhabitants elsewhere.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Selinunte, Sicily, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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