Lilibeo
Description
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 Septimius Severus (193-211 AD) it was the seat of flourishing Christian community.
Vandals led by Genseric devastated Lilibeo in 440. However, it was still one of the most important cities of Sicily in the early Middle Ages. Later Arabs named the city as Marsah Allah, meaning 'the harbor of God'. This is why the city is today called Marsala.
Today you can visit on a Lilibeo Archaeological Park, which exhibits the Insulae with its mosaics, Roman baths, fortifications and findings.