The temple Segesta

The temple - Segesta

The temple of Segesta was built on top of a lonely hill between 430 and 420 BC.

Its style is Doric, as the great Greek temples, even though some detail reveals a different origin. The most obvious difference is that in the temple of Segesta there is not the cell, the beating heart of the Greek temple.

Scholars discussed a lot about the lack of the cell and of the ceiling. Some merely think that the temple was not finished to build. Others attribute the peculiarity of the temple of Segesta to a political and cultural reason: the inhabitants of Segesta were not Greeks, like their enemies of Selinunte, but Elymians and therefore they had a different religion and different customs.

They may have known some Greek people and asked them to build a temple to compete even in the architectural field with their enemies. It is not known how they used the temple.

The peristyle is formed by 14 columns on the side and 6 in frontal one. There are no decorations neither the temple is huge in comparison with the other ones of the Magna Graecia. However it is extraordinary because you can admire it how it was. It takes up the whole top of the hill and can be seen from afar.

To get there you have to leave your vehicle downhill and go walking uphill.