The Truth About Sicily's ‘CYCLOPEAN’ Walls

There are lots of references in literature to the cyclopean walls of Erice, a town founded by the Elymians on a mountain in north-west Sicily. Since the megalithic cyclopean walls on mainland Italy are impressive constructions with mysterious origins, I went to explore those in Erice to see if there was any similarity between them. Evidence of human habitation on Mount Erice goes back to the Palaeolithic, but it first became a proper settlement in the pre-Classical period when the hellenised local people known as the Elymians founded a town and a temple dedicated to Aphrodite there.

When the town became a Punic colony, the Carthaginians dedicated the temple to Astarte before the Romans came along and dedicated it to Venus Erycina. The town changed many times over hundreds of years, but the sanctity of the temple site did not, until a medieval castle took advantage of its strategic location. As with many Italian towns, legend has it that Erice was founded by the Trojan hero Aeneas, but all the evidence points towards an Elymian origin. The cyclopean walls are said to have been built by these Elymians, but not a great deal is known about this ancient tribe apart from the fact they took on many aspects of Greek culture. Come and explore this beautiful town with me and let's break down all the myths, legends and facts about it.

#ancienthistory #mediterranean #sicily

✨ IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 Introduction
00:57 Cyclopean Masonry
02:47 The Founding Of Erice
04:45 The Temple
07:48 Erice’s Walls

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✨ REFERENCES

Price, S., and Thonemann, P. (2011). The birth of classical Europe. A history from Troy to Augustine. London: Penguin Books.

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✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS

Google Earth
Location of Erice within Sicily
Close up of Erice’s location within Sicily

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Tribes of Sicily, credit: Soprani

All other photographs, credit: MegalithHunter