Lilibeo, Marsala, Italy - SpottingHistory.com

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.

User Reviews

Katja P (2 years ago)
The staff was very unfriendly to us, as non Italians. They did not even say hello when we came in and didn't even try to help us understand anything. We felt like a burdon to them, disrupting their coffee break. The museum is modern from the inside, but a disaster from the outside. We would not recommend it to anyone.

Domenico Milillo (2 years ago)
L'abbiamo visitato a fine Giugno 2021, e confermiamo quanto già recensito da altri: vi sono reperti archeologici di notevole interesse all'interno del museo - a parte le navi che la fanno da padrone, avete visto la tessera di scambio?? - mentre il parco esterno è purtroppo lasciato a se stesso, e meriterebbe ben altra considerazione. Personale di servizio molto disponibile e gentile.

giuseppe enrico (3 years ago)
Must be developed

Roberto Mercanti (3 years ago)
The exhibits are beautiful, but dirty and poorly maintained

giuseppe enrico (3 years ago)
Must be developed

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Photo from Flickr, copyright larrywkoester

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Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d"Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d"Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe.

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

The monument was partially reconstructed during the 1980s. It is open to the public and accessible by the old route of SS131 highway, near the hamlet of Ottava. It is 14,9 km from Sassari and 45 km from Alghero. There is no public transportation to the site. The opening times vary throughout the year.

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