The Temple of Diana
Located above the city of Cefalu
The Temple of Diana
Located above the city of Cefalu
The Sicans, one of the native peoples of Sicily, whose
legacy is best expressed in this megalithic structure known as "Tempio
di Diana" (The Temple of Diana). This is, of course, simply a Latin
name for the Greek goddess Artemis, perhaps identified with the Sicanian
deity of the hunt. We know very little about the Sikanians' neolithic religion.
Views of the northern coast of Sicily during the climb
to the top of Cefalu's La Rocca
Looking west towards Palermo
The city of Cefalu
Ruins of the ancient fortress above Cefalu
The Sicani built Temple
The Temple of Diana
The temple's foundation is not unlike that present
at Pantalica, featuring large interlocking stones. The upper "classical"
sections were added in Greek times. Little else is known of the temple
or the people who built it.
Few Sicanian structures still stand; Phoenician, Carthaginian,
Greek and Roman architecture is far more evident in Sicily.
The Sicans, Sicels and Elami amalgamated with successive
cultures to the extent that it is often difficult to identify the traces
of these earlier "native" civilisations with much precision beyond the
earliest Sicilian history - before circa 800 BC. The Sicanian part of the
Temple of Diana dates from this early period, though archaeologists disagree
on its precise age. It is, however, a witness to time.
This is the earliest-known Sicanian temple in Sicily,
but their predecessors the Proto-Sicanians built the temples on Malta -
the oldest-known places of worship in Europe.
The Temple of Diana on La Rocca
Cefalu, Sicily
Back to Cefalu Photo Page or Forward to La Rocca Page
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