Tempio di Segesta

The temple of Segesta is a unique place that even today appears as it was to Grand Tour travelers.  The entire area has remained more or less the same: vast hills for sowing or grazing, modest mountainous elevations with few trees, only few recent buildings.

Driving along the state road or the motorway in the direction of Trapani, even from a distance the temple strikes for its grandeur, isolated in the middle of hills. Once you leave the car, you get the impression that from one moment to the next those columns should come alive with the Elymians, an ancient population that remains mysterious today.

Built outside the urban area on the remains of an older construction, the temple consists of a stepped basement measuring about 61 meters by 26 meters, on which there are 36 massive columns about 10 meters high. The construction got several refinements over the years, such as the optical correction achieved by slightly curving the plinth, a device found only in the Parthenon in Athens.

The presence of a Greek temple in a city, as well as the differences with other Doric temples and the lack of certain elements, have caused several debates today, especially regarding its function and the reasons for its construction.

Regardless of whether the temple is finished or not, intended for a Greek or an indigenous cult, it has come down to us in an excellent state of preservation for sure and, despite being over 2,400 years old, continues to impress with its grandeur, elegance and harmonious proportions.