Pantalica Acreide (Siracusa Province) is 50 km from Siracusa, one of the most important proto-historic centers in Sicily, developed between the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (13th-8th centuries BC). It occupied a vast, rocky, naturally defended plain dominating the Anapo Valley; it can probably be identified as the legendary Sicel city of Hybla, whose king Hyblon permitted the Greeks to found Megara Hyblaea. Pantalica began to decline in the 8th century BC, when Greek colonization began to spread. It survived however until the Byzantine and Arab ages. But it was of little importance and after this period it is no longer mentioned.
Of interest: a small sanctuary on the slopes of the mountian and, on a rise, ruins of the anaktoron or king's palace; necropolises.
Links to other sites about Pantalica include:
My latest book on CD is titled Sicily - A Reference for Researchers and is now available. With a file for each town (plus many other files), it relates the history of Sicily as reflected in the photos, records and festivals of its towns. It contains over 2500 text and photo files and can be ordered at CD order.
 |  |  |
 |