A Greek city in the hills and the goddess returned from America
Near the village of Aidone, on a ridge with views over the hills of central Sicily, lie the ruins of Morgantina, a Sikel city that became Greek and flourished in the third century BC under Hiero II of Syracuse. The excavations, carried out mainly by American archaeologists, reveal a large agora with a monumental staircase, a theatre, houses with mosaic floors, sanctuaries and granaries.
The archaeological museum of Aidone displays the treasures of the city, which were illegally excavated and sold abroad and came back to Italy after long negotiations: the Venus of Morgantina, a statue over two metres tall of a goddess, perhaps Demeter or Persephone, with a limestone body and marble head and limbs, returned by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2011; the silver Treasure of Eupolemos, returned by the Metropolitan Museum; and the heads of the acrolithic goddesses.
Tip: combine the visit with the Villa Romana del Casale, twenty minutes away; the site is quiet and full of atmosphere.
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