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<< Our Photo Pages >> Mozia - Museum in Italy in Sicily (Sicilia)

Submitted by Armand on Friday, 29 April 2022  Page Views: 2075

MuseumsSite Name: Mozia Alternative Name: Fondazione Guiseppe Whitaker, Mothia, Motya, San Pantaleo
Country: Italy
NOTE: This site is 14.816 km away from the location you searched for.

Region: Sicily (Sicilia) Type: Museum
Nearest Town: Marsala
Latitude: 37.866800N  Longitude: 12.468100E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Harbor Croton (Vote or comment on this photo)
Mozia, today known as San Pantaleo is an island of the Lagoon of Marsala. It was an ancient Phoenician city. The island faces the west coast of Sicily, between l, Grande Island and the mainland. The city was founded before 700 BC and emerged as one of the most prosperous colonies of the Phoenicians' loose Mediterranean confederation. Noteworthy features are the fortifications, a submerged road that used to link the island to the mainland, near Birgi, the cothon (or drainage basin and "harbour") and the main sanctuaries - in particular the tophet, where the burnt remains of offerings and sacrifices in honour of the god Baal Hammon were collected.

Thousands of carved steles where discovered here, and these are the most convincing evidence of Punic sculpture. The most ancient part of old Mozia's industrial area includes several semicircular furnaces, identical in construction to the more ancient pottery furnaces used in Phoenicia.

The sea level has increased by about half a meter since Phoenician times, so part of the archaeological remains are submerged. Access to the island is by two private boats, which not only link the same Mozia to the mainland can also visit the other islands of the Lagoon. The island belongs to the Whitaker Foundation, and is only open to the public during hours of operation. The ancient road linking the island to the mainland between Cape San Teodoro and the extreme northern tip is no longer viable because of erosion and algae.

Official Web Site

Note: Phoenician "harbour" in Sicily revealed to be a religious site aligned with the stars, more in the comments on our page
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Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Sanctuary Cappiddazzu (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Steles tophet (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : South gate (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Submarine causeway

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : North gate

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand (1 comment)

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Information panel North gate

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Information panel sanctuary Cappiddazzu

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Necropolis

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Information panel necropolis

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Tophet

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Information panel tophet

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Museum

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand : Charioteer

Mozia
Mozia submitted by Armand

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 8.2km SSW 207° Capo Boeo* Museum
 19.7km NW 320° Grotta del Genovese* Cave or Rock Shelter
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 44.3km SE 135° Selinous* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 44.8km SE 134° Selinous Temple F* Ancient Temple
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 114.3km E 85° Mura Pregne dolmen (Sicily)* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 116.8km ESE 123° Temple of Vulcanus* Ancient Temple
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Re: Mozia by Runemage on Thursday, 28 April 2022
(User Info | Send a Message)
Phoenician ‘harbour’ in Sicily revealed to be religious site aligned with stars
https://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=189778

Antiquity article https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/sacred-pool-of-baal-a-reinterpretation-of-the-kothon-at-motya/329646E6561765FD30A9D6EC5FD5B6CB

Guardian article by Rafqa Touma 28 Apr 2022 08.35 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/27/rewriting-history-phoenician-harbour-revealed-to-be-religious-site-that-aligns-with-the-stars

"Research upturns theory that pool in ancient city of Motya was used by military and underlines Phoenician connection to astronomy

Off the west coast of Sicily lies the remains of the ancient city of Motya. There, a compound of temples and shrines offers a window into the life of Phoenician settlers who journeyed from Lebanon across the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC.

While Motya has been studied for a century, the site is still giving up new secrets. Earlier this month a rectangular basin, long-believed to have served as an artificial harbour for protecting naval ships and participating in trade, was revealed to be something else entirely – a religious site, designed and constructed to perfectly align with the stars.

The basin, larger than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, was rebuilt in 550BC along with Motya after it was destroyed in an attack by Carthage, another Phoenician colony across the sea in Tunisia. The city was then abandoned in Roman times.
Research upturns theory that pool in ancient city of Motya was used by military and underlines Phoenician connection to astronomy

Off the west coast of Sicily lies the remains of the ancient city of Motya. There, a compound of temples and shrines offers a window into the life of Phoenician settlers who journeyed from Lebanon across the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC.

While Motya has been studied for a century, the site is still giving up new secrets. Earlier this month a rectangular basin, long-believed to have served as an artificial harbour for protecting naval ships and participating in trade, was revealed to be something else entirely – a religious site, designed and constructed to perfectly align with the stars.

The basin, larger than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, was rebuilt in 550BC along with Motya after it was destroyed in an attack by Carthage, another Phoenician colony across the sea in Tunisia. The city was then abandoned in Roman times.

Since the pool’s discovery in the 1920s, it was thought to be a “kothon” – an artificial military harbour. Kothon are quite common in the Mediterranean, says Ania Kotarba, a senior lecturer in archaeology at Flinders University. The most famous is in Carthage. But recent excavations and decades of research led by the archaeologist Lorenzo Nigro of Sapienza University of Rome and published in the journal Antiquity this month unearthed clues suggesting instead the pool is the heart of a sprawling religious site.

“Sacred pools are less common [than kothon],” Kotarba says. “So one on such a scale is quite impressive.”

Since his team’s research, perceptions of the basin have “drastically changed,” says Nigro in a statement.

What was thought to be a harbour for centuries may soon be interpreted as “a sacred pool at the centre of one of the largest cultic complexes of the pre-classical Mediterranean”.

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