Selinunte occupies about 270 hectares of ridges above the southwestern Sicilian coast, making scale central to the visit. Settlers from Megara Hyblaea founded ancient Selinous around 650 BCE. Its name referred to wild celery, represented on the city’s coinage. Temples, an acropolis, agora, housing and sanctuaries document a major Greek colonial city rather than a detached group of ruins.
Conflict repeatedly shaped Selinunte. Carthaginian forces destroyed the city in 409 BCE, though occupation continued in reduced and altered form before eventual abandonment. Earthquakes and stone reuse brought down monumental buildings. Modern archaeologists use letter names for temples whose divine dedications are often uncertain; a visitor should not mistake convenient labels such as Temple E or G for ancient names.
