Palazzolo Acreide (Akrai)
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| Substantial traces of human settlements from prehistoric times have been found in the surroundings of the present-day town. In 664 BC Syracuse, pursuing its vehement expansionist policy towards the hinterland, founded its first sub-colony, Akrai. The road which led to the new city was of vital strategic importance for the communications between Syracuse and the Greek cities on the southern coast via the Selinunte road. After 214 BC, it became a Roman “Civitas stipendiaria” and continued to flourish thanks to the fertile agricultural land. Probably destroyed by the Greeks, it was reconquered in Norman times. Archaeological excavations in ancient Akrai have brought to light the Greek theatre (photo above) dating from the 3C BC, a rather small though well preserved building, with a semicircular cavea divided into 9 wedges and 12 steps which could seat 600 people. Photo below: The Latomie dell’Itangliata e dell’Intagliatella, stone quarries from the Greek age with rock carvings, which were used for hero-worship. The foundations of a Greek-archaic temple, probably dedicated to Aphrodite, stand high above the Latomie. |
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