Erice city walls
The origins of the city walls of Erice date back to the work of Phoenician builders from the 8th century BC. BC back. It secures the sea side of the city of Erice in Sicily, which is 700 m above sea level . On the two inland flanks, steep, almost vertical rock formations represent a natural obstacle. The inside of the wall mostly runs directly on city streets, a footpath was laid out in 1999 to allow visitors to visit the outside, which is also provided with information boards. An extensive program of measures by the tourism authority had carried out considerable work in the years since 1994 - especially on the outer facade - in order to make the city wall more visible to visitors again.
description
The extent of the city of Erice on the Monte Erice plateau is strongly limited by natural conditions and corresponds roughly to an equilateral triangle with an edge length of 750 m. The south and north-east side were therefore protected from attackers by steep mountain slopes, only the north-west side facing the sea had a moderate rise. For strategic reasons, this side was protected by a stone wall. Until around 1800 it played a role as a city fortification. In Roman times, a second city wall was built at a distance of about 50 meters, of which, however, there are hardly any remains today.
The city wall was secured with at least 25 towers, of which the remains of 16 are still visible today, six of which are still well preserved. There were gates for carts in three places, all of which are still preserved: Porta Trapani in the far southwest, Porta Carmine and Porta Spada . Doors were let in at several additional places to allow people to pass quickly in peacetime. Letters from the Phoenician alphabet are carved into the base ashlars of the wall : Ajin , Beth , and Pe , which were discovered in 1882. It is not clear what they mean. It could be a stonemason's mark or an assignment of the pieces for the construction of the various towers.
The stone blocks become smaller towards the top. According to archaeological studies, these stones were piled up again to form the city wall after they had been hewn down. The city gates as you can see them today are correspondingly more recent, but, also according to the course of the street, they must have always been in the same place. Porta Spada is in the best state of preservation and probably also the oldest building structure. Porta Trapani seems to have been rebuilt even in the Middle Ages. The Porta Carmine was the least modified, at least the substance of its construction is still recognizable. The changes include the creation of the large niche above the arch, which dates back to the 17th century. In the niche there is a statue of St. Albert , without his head since the middle of the 20th century.
Web links
- Sebastiano Tusa, Fabrizio Nicoletti: Saggi Stratigrafici Alle Mura Di Erice (ital.) , Laboratorio di Storia, Archeologia e Topografia del Mondo Antico, 2000
- Pietro Di Maria: Un itinerario turistico lungo le mura fenicio-puniche. (Italian) Comune di Erice
Coordinates: 38 ° 2 ′ 20 ″ N , 12 ° 35 ′ 9 ″ E