Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Italy
Archaeological Park of Locri
The remains of the Greek settlement in the locality of Centocamere, and those of the Tempio di Marasà, which have yielded a great variety of relics related to religion, art, and culture, have more recently been added to those of a sanctuary dedicated to Demetra Thesmophoros, stretches of the Greek city walls, and significant monumental evidence from the Roman Imperial age, such as the Museale Casinò Macrì complex. I ...
Founded: 5th century BCE |
Location:
Locri, Italy
Pont d'Aël
The Pont d'Aël is a Roman aqueduct, located in the comune of Aymavilles in Aosta Valley, northern Italy. It was built in the year 3 BCE for irrigation purposes and supplying water for the newly founded colony of Augusta Praetoria, which is now known as Aosta. The water was directed through a neighbouring valley 66 m above the floor of the Aosta valley, through a sophisticated system. The aqueduct is 6 km long in total. I ...
Founded: 3 BCE |
Location:
Aymavilles, Italy
Nuraghe Loelle
Nuraghe Loelle is a megalith located near Buddusò in Sardinia. It was built by the Nuragic civilization between 1600-400 BCE. The main tower is about 7-9m wide. Near the nuraghe are also two giant tombs from the same age.
Founded: 1600-400 BCE |
Location:
Buddusò, Italy
Albucciu Nuraghe
Just two and a half kilometres away from the village of Arzachena, you will find the Albucciu nuraghe, one of the most characteristic and important examples of a "corridor" building (or protonuraghe), the ancestor of the later nuraghes, although the truncated-ogival rooves were affected by the subsequent tholos building technique . Dating back to the Middle Bronze Age (15th century BC), the nuraghe is completel ...
Founded: 1600 BCE |
Location:
Arzachena, Italy
Roman Baths
Located at the end of the Falcomatà waterfront and discovered during the reconstruction works following the 1908 earthquake, the Roman Baths are one of the most famous city monuments of Reggio Calabria. Given its size, its baths were probably part of a private building. The remains reveal more building phases, and, for a long time, they were covered by a Spanish wall tower, the Bastione di San Matteo, which guarantee ...
Founded: 2nd century AD |
Location:
Reggio Calabria, Italy
Turris Libisonis
The ancient Roman town of Turris Libisonis, located at the mouth of the Rio Mannu was the precursor to the current Porto Torres. This had been a Roman colony since the 1st century BC and, of all the estates belonging to the Republic and the Empire, it was the only one inhabited by Roman citizens: it proudly held the name of Iulia, linked to the figure of Julius Cesar or of Augustus. Under the long Roman dominion, the tow ...
Founded: 1st century BCE |
Location:
Porto Torres, Italy
Scolacium Archaeological Park
The Archaeological park of Scolacium hosts the ruins of the ancient Greek City of Skilletion that became a Roman colony after the war against Hannibal, and assumed the name of Minervia Scolacium. Little remains of the pre-Roman settlement, while the structure of the Roman colony and rests of paved roads and aqueduct, of the thermal plant, the amphitheater and the theater are still visible. The theater lies on a natural hi ...
Founded: 1st century AD |
Location:
Catanzaro, Italy
Manerba
There are remains of a Mesolithic village the Manerba archaeological park area, while under natural terrace located in the foothills of the Rocca (castle) are traces of a Neolithic settlement from between 4,500 and 4,000 BC, and an important necropolis dating from the Copper Age.
Founded: 8000-4000 BC |
Location:
Manerba del Garda, Italy
Lilibeo
Lilibeo or Lilybaion was originally a Carthaginian city founded around 397 BCE. It became soon a dynamic trade and handicraft centre. In the Hellenistic period it was a multiethnic town where Punic, Greek and Roman people lived together. After a long siege, it was subdued by the Romans in the first Punic war in 241 BCE. Cicero mentioned Lilibeo in 76-75 BCE as a 'magnificient town'. During the age of Emperor Se ...
Founded: 397 BCE |
Location:
Marsala, Italy
Nuraghe La Prisgiona
The Nuraghe La Prisgiona is a nuragic archaeological site (occupied from the 14th until the 9th century BC), located in the Capichera valley in the municipality of Arzachena Costa Smeralda in the north of Sardinia. It consists of a nuraghe and a village comprising around 90-100 buildings, spread across 5 hectares. Findings from this site are in many cases unique in Sardinia, particularly with regard to decoration and use. ...
Founded: 1300-800 BCE |
Location:
Arzachena, Italy
Posillipo Archaeological Park
The archaeological park is one of the most beautiful places in the city and along the coast of Posillipo. Among the most important sites are the Seiano cave, the underwater park of Gaiola, the imperial villa of Pausilypon, the Odeon, the theatre and the Palace of the Spirits. The ruins of the Roman villa of Vedius Pollio, also known as the Imperial Villa, include a 2000-seat theatre on the rocky promontary at the end of ...
Founded: 1st century BCE |
Location:
Naples, Italy
Piscina Mirabilis
The Piscina Mirabilis was a freshwater cistern on the Bacoli cliff at the western end of the Gulf of Naples. One of the largest freshwater cisterns built by the ancient Romans, it was situated there in order to provide the Roman western imperial fleet at Portus Julius with drinking water. The cistern was dug entirely out of the tuff cliff face and was 15 metres high, 72 metres long, and 25 metres wide. It was ...
Founded: 27 BCE - 14 AD |
Location:
Bacoli, Italy
Roman Gymnasium
The monumental complex known as Gymnasium, probably built in the second half of the 1st century AD, consists of various constructions. Surrounded by the remains of a quadriportico are the ruins of the temple preceded by an altar, and a theatre. There was also, from Greek times, the sacellum with the remains of Timoleon.
Founded: 1st century AD |
Location:
Syracuse, Italy
Netum
Netum was a considerable ancient town in the south of Sicily. Its current site is at the località of Noto Antica, in the modern comune of Noto. As a treaty was concluded in 263 BCE between the Romans and King Hieron II of Syracuse, Netum was noticed as one of the cities left in subjection to that monarch. Ptolemy is the last ancient writer that mentions the name; but there is no doubt that it continued to exist thro ...
Founded: 8th century BCE |
Location:
Noto, Italy
Villa Romana del Tellaro
The Villa Romana del Tellaro is a Roman villa dating from the late Roman Empire. The remains of the villa were found in 1971 in a fertile agricultural area, on a low elevation near the Tellaro river. The central building was constructed around a large peristyle. The section of the porch on the north side had a floor which was decorated with mosaics. They show laurel wreathes forming circles and octagons with geometri ...
Founded: 4th century AD |
Location:
Noto, Italy
Euryalus Fortress
The Euryalus Fortress was the key point in the fortifications of the ancient Greek city of Syracuse. It is located on the highest point of the hill of Epipolae. During the Athenian invasion of Sicily (415-413 BC), the fortress did not yet exist, but the strategic importance of the area was clear; the Athenians initially captured the hill, but their failure to retain it prevented them from effectively besieging the city. ...
Founded: 402-397 BCE |
Location:
Syracuse, Italy
Greek Acropolis of Gela
Located near the Regional Archaeological Museum, the Acropolis of Gela is one of the most important archaeological sites in Sicily. The area was already occupied in prehistoric times by indigenous settlements dating from between the 4th and 2nd millennia BC. After a period of neglect, this site was occupied again around the 8th century BC by a small settlement prior to the founding of Gela, a proto-colony which had been g ...
Founded: 8th century BCE |
Location:
Gela, Italy
Circus of Maxentius
The Circus of Maxentius is an ancient part of a complex erected by emperor Maxentius on the Via Appia between AD 306 and 312. It is situated between the second and third miles of the Via Appia between the basilica and catacombs of San Sebastiano and the imposing late republican tomb of Caecilia Metella, which dominates the hill that rises immediately to the east of the complex. The Circus itself is the best preserved in ...
Founded: 306-312 |
Location:
Rome, Italy
Nuraghe Maiori
The Nuraghe Maiori is an archaeological site, situated near the Comune of Tempio Pausania. The Nuraghe are stone houses that date back to the Bronze Age and can be found all across Sardinia"s interior. Near are the ruins of older Protonuraghe Naracheddu and Nuraghe Cacchioni.
Founded: 1800-1400 BCE |
Location:
Tempio Pausania, Italy
Val Camonica Rock Drawings
The stone carvings of Val Camonica (Camonica Valley) constitute the largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. The collection was recognized by Unesco in 1979 and was Italy"s first recognized World Heritage Site. Unesco has formally recognized more than 140,000 figures and symbols, but new discoveries have increased the number of catalogued incisions to between 200,000 and 300,000. The petrog ...
Founded: 7000 BCE |
Location:
Capo di Ponte, Italy