Temple of Segesta

The Temple of Segesta in north-west Sicily. March 2019

The structure is a Doric temple thought to have been built by an Athenian architect in around 420 BC. The temple is surprisingly well preserved and managed to survive the Carthigian sacking of Segesta in 397 BC.

Interestingly, archaeologists believe that the temple may not have been finished. Evidence pointing to this include the lacking of fluting on the columns and the absence of an inner chamber known as a naos. It also appears to have never had a roof, an altar, nor a dedication to a specific deity.

Another puzzling fact is that at the time of the temple’s construction, the local population were Elymian, not Greek. The Elymians were an indigenous civilisation of Sicily and inhabited the island during the Bronze Age and Classical period.