Mozia (Motya) (Trapani Province) is about 8 km from Marsala, in the middle of the Stagnone lagoon, is the little island of San Panteleo, about 40 hectares in area (100 acres), where the ancient city of Motya used to stand.
This is one of the most ancient of the Phoenician foundations (late 8th century BC), together with Panormus and Solunto. Motya very soon became one of the most important trading stations in the ancient world. After the Carthaginians were defeated in the Battle of Himera (480 BC) it went through a moment of decline but prospered again at the end of the same century when the boundary wall which already surrounded the whole island was strengthened. When hostilites again broke out between Greeks and Carthaginians, Motya was attacked by Dionyisius I of Siracusa, who conquered and destroyed the city. The inhabitants fled to the mainland of Sicily and founded the city Lilybaeum, the modern Marsala.
Motya was never rebuilt, and it thereofre constitutes a rare testimony of a Phoenician-Punic settlement that has come down to us almost complete, without any superimpositions.
Of interest: Walls, The original wall dates from the early 6th century BC, Sanctuary (Cappiddazzu), archaic necropolis, Casa dei Mosaici, Museum.
Links to other sites about Motya include:
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