Images in this gallery are of ancient Greek settlement of Herakleia Minoa (modern Ercalea Minoa) which is magnificently positioned high on a lonely ridge above a sweeping bay backed by pine forests and a long curing sandy white beach on the central south coast of Sicily.
Herakleia Minoa was founded in the 6th BC by settlers from the earlier Greek settlement of Selinunte, 60 kilometres away in order to protect the eastern limit of its territory from the growing strength of Akragas...
more »Images in this gallery are of ancient Greek settlement of Herakleia Minoa (modern Ercalea Minoa) which is magnificently positioned high on a lonely ridge above a sweeping bay backed by pine forests and a long curing sandy white beach on the central south coast of Sicily.
Herakleia Minoa was founded in the 6th BC by settlers from the earlier Greek settlement of Selinunte, 60 kilometres away in order to protect the eastern limit of its territory from the growing strength of Akragas (Agrigento) 40 kilometres away.
It is believed the city's original name was Minoa, named after the Cretan king Minos who according to legend came to Sicily to search for Daedalus and founded the city where he landed. The name Herakleia was added later, possibly by Spartan colonists led by Eurileontes.
The city flourished in the 4th century BC, however because of its strategic position, the city was in the middle of continuous border disputes and a constant source of contention from externally invaders. It passed through the hands of the Greeks sometime in the 3rd century to the Carthaginians and then finally into the hands of the Romans. By the end of the 1st century BC it was totally abandoned.
The site is largely unexcavated however the well preserved 4th century BC Greek Theatre is a definite highlight.
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