Selinus

Selinus, ancient ruined Greek city on the south-west coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Selinus River (now the Madione River), near the modern village of Marinella. The city was founded about 628 bc by a group of Dorians, an ancient Greek people, from the ancient Sicilian city of Megara Hyblaea, near Syracuse. From the early 6th century bc the inhabitants of Selinus waged constant wars with the people of the neighbouring Greek city of Segesta. In the 5th century, a military alliance between Selinus and Syracuse was formed, and an appeal from the people of Segesta for aid was the main reason for a disastrous expedition sent from Athens to Sicily in 415 bc. In 409 bc, during the Carthaginian invasion of Sicily, Selinus was captured and destroyed. Although rebuilt, the city never regained its former prosperity, and about 250 bc, during the first (264-241 bc) of the Punic Wars, it was again destroyed by the Carthaginians and its inhabitants were transferred to the nearby city of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala). The wealth of Selinus is described in the writings of the Greek historian Thucydides. Its ruins include the walls of the ancient acropolis, and the remains of several fine temples, divided in two groups with five on the acropolis and three on a hill to the east of the city. The temples are superb examples of Doric architecture. One of the group outside the city is apparently dedicated to the god Apollo and is one of the largest Greek temples known to have existed.