Caltabellotta Temple of Cronos [Temple of Cronus, Temple of Daedalus] Ancient Temple : The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map:

<< Our Photo Pages >> Caltabellotta Temple of Cronos - Ancient Temple in Italy in Sicily (Sicilia)

Submitted by AlexHunger on Tuesday, 16 October 2007 Page Views: 8386

Roman, Greek and ClassicalSite Name: Caltabellotta Temple of Cronos Alternative Name: Temple of Cronus, Temple of Daedalus
Country: Italy
NOTE: This site is 12.834 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: Sicily (Sicilia) Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Palermo Nearest Village: Caltabellotta
Latitude: 37.576900N Longitude: 13.207500E
Condition:

5	Perfect
4	Almost Perfect
3	Reasonable but with some damage
2	Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1	Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0	No data.
-1	Completely destroyed

2 Ambience:

5	Superb
4	Good
3	Ordinary
2	Not Good
1	Awful
0	No data.

3 Access:

5	Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4	Short walk on a footpath
3	Requiring a bit more of a walk
2	A long walk
1	In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0	No data.

4 Accuracy:

5	co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4	co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3	co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2	co-ordinates of the nearest village
1	co-ordinates of the nearest town
0	no data

4

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**Caltabellotta Temple of Cronos** submitted by ivanjohnson : The alleged "Temple of Daedalus"? That's what a woman in the town told me. She seemed at least well versed in the local legends. If anyone knows anything about this ruin please contact me. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ancient Temple in Sicily (Sicilia). To the west of the San Pellegrino church in a cow pasture (on what appears to be private property though quite accessible) is what the locals call "The Temple of Daedalus" which, though not extending far above ground level, is fairly large with a good deal of the foot stones of the walls showing so one can discern the vestiges of the ground plan fairly well. It was allegedly built by Daedalus to honor Cronos who had protected him in his escape from King Minos of Crete.

There are also several subterranean chambers with small openings at ground level too small to crawl into but one can see that they open into chambers beneath the ground.

On the edge of this "Temple of Daedalus" that faces the downhill slope are some quite interesting megalithic-looking steps and platforms carved into the indigenous rock upon which the rest of the temple stood. They are possibly Sican or Greek, but I have no expertise on the matter, and even the name of this ruin is open to question.

This site appears to be of great antiquity judging by the style of the steps and platforms that are cut into the solid rock. It would not be unreasonable to guess that they are of similar antiquity to the Sican tombs that abound nearby and which evidence similar stonework. The temple appears to have been carved partly out of solid rock in what appears to be the "altar" area, with a built stone structure apparently having sat atop it forming the majority of the rest of the building.

The fascinating thing for me about this ruin is that the locals claim that this is the temple that Daedalus built to honor Cronus who apparently had protected him in his travails with King Minos of Crete. If this were in fact the case, this ruin could be of some significance as a possible later devotional work of "the first architect" Daedalus, or perhaps an existing older sacred site which Daedalus modified.

This large so-called "Temple of Daedalus" is not listed anywhere on the internet that I have been able to find and does not appear in any of the many tourist guides for the area which I have perused. Though quite ruined down to near ground level, one can easily see how spectacular it probably was when it was intact.

We have NO positive knowledge that this ruin is in fact related to Daedalus. That is just a legend that was told to me by a non-expert civilian in the town. Though she seemed to know the legends well, there was no way to assess its validity so please; perhaps calling it the "alleged Temple of Daedalus" would be more prudent at the outset.

More legend: The woman who told the story also said that there were baths involved in the Daedalus legend, and one can see two circular structures at the site one of which is visible in my wide photo, and both visible in the Google Maps satellite photo. Could these be the baths where King Minos was slain by Cocalos' daughters under the influence of Cronus?

Anyone who knows anything at all about this structure is encouraged to contact me at:

ivanjohnsonx@yahoo.com

Ivan Johnson

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