I spent yesterday afternoon at the Segesta Archeological Park. Surrounded by green hills made up of a patchwork of farms growing a variety of crops, sits this amazing archeological park. The imposing Temple of Segesta is visible from quite a distance as you approach the park. The murky history of the structures, who built them and why, adds to the mysteriousness of how anyone could have built such structures. The prevailing theory is that they were built by the Elymians, an ancient tribal people who inhabited Sicily during the Bronze Age and classical antiquity. The Elymians were thought to be Trojans who fled Troy and settled in Sicily. The temple is estimated to have been built between 430 and 420 B.C., possibly because of a war between the Elymians and neighboring cities (notably Selinute). Fighting between various cities and struggle for control, eventually led to the city’s destruction and abandonment around 900 A.D.
The parking lot is at the roundabout as you approach the park, immediately adjacent to the ticket office and welcome center. The ticket for walking the park was 6 Euros and I paid 2 or 3 Euro for a guide book and map (highly recommend). There is an auto road and a bus that runs groups up and down, and the ticket for that is slightly more. Unless you are physically unable to walk a couple miles including a few hundred feet of elevation, I really think you get a lot more out of a visit by walking. Bring some water, a snack, camera, shoes with good traction, hat and sunscreen. The temple and the theater were the most impressive and intact of all the sites, but if you read the descriptions on the signs for the other sites, the enormity of what these people built becomes more impressive. Be sure to check out the panoramic views at the top of the park overlooking the valley.
