A solitary Doric temple on a hill, never finished
In the hills of western Sicily, surrounded by fields and silence, stands one of the best preserved Greek temples in the world: the Temple of Segesta, built around 420 BC by the Elymians, a people who were not Greek but adopted Greek culture. Its 36 Doric columns still support the entablature and pediments, but the temple was never finished: the columns are not fluted and there is no inner cell.
On the top of nearby Monte Barbaro, reached by a path or a shuttle bus, lie the remains of the ancient city, with the agora and above all the Greek theatre, carved into the hillside and facing the valley and the Gulf of Castellammare. In summer it hosts performances of classical drama and concerts.
Tip: visit the temple early in the morning or in the late afternoon; the theatre at sunset, with the sea in the distance, is unforgettable.
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