Indagini nell'area ad ovest del Tempio della Vittoria ad Himera

Abstract

Himera: New investigations in the area West of the Tempio della Vittoria · The University of Palermo has started a new cycle of field investigations in the “lower town” of Himera, with the aim of answering some questions about the relationships between the Tempio della Vittoria, the residential districts, and the agora, that remained to be clarified after the important results produced by the studies on the urban development of the Greek city over the past forty years. This paper presents some initial results and research perspectives from the first excavation soundings and geophysical survey of 2021. The first findings strongly suggest that the agora extended much further south than previously supposed, confirming the eastern limits proposed by S. Vassallo; as a matter of fact, it included also the area west of the Tempio della Vittoria, and most probably reached the south plateia of the lower town (possibly running under the present SS 113 road). In that area, about 20 m off the SW corner of the temple, we are clearing the western edge of the built half of insula II, that was partially excavated by N. Allegro (1984-1985) on the opposite side, where the Archaic buildings were destroyed in order to make space for the peripteral temple. The Greek levels are affected by post-antique interventions and covered by the Buonfornello nucleated settlement, which grew up around the 16th century tower built over the ruins of the Greek temple.