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Visit Akrai
The ancient ruins of Akrai are found at Palazzolo Acreide in south-east Sicily, inland to the west of Syracuse.
Within the archaeological park of Ancient Akrai stands the Greek Theatre, which is certainly the most prestigious monument of the ancient "Polis", whose construction began in mid-second century BC.
The Theatre consists of eight steps, with twelve rows of stone seats, and it is oriented toward the north. The orchestra is semi-circular, and from the top of the “cavea” there is a tunnel that leads to the "Bouleuterion", where the popular assembly met. In the upper part of the Theatre there are the remains of the Temple of Aphrodite, dedicated to the "goddess of Akrai". Today there are only a few remains of the Temple*, destroyed by the earthquake of 1693.
*Bernabo Brea wrote about the Temple: [...] From an ancient inscription found by G. Iudica during excavations carried out by him on the ‘Acremonte’ at the beginning of the last century, we know that there were three temples in the ancient Akrai: the ‘Aphrodision’, ‘Artemision’ and ‘Koreion’; these three temples were dedicated to female deities, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Kore-Persephone (…) Of these three temples it is evident that the ‘Aphrodision’ was the most important. Aphrodite was indeed the chief goddess of the town (...) Of the Temple remains unfortunately very little; only the cuts made in the rock to set the foundations of its structures and a small number of blocks still in situ (…) Perhaps the Temple was already in ruins at the end of the ancient world […]” (See Luigi Bernabò Brea - Francesco D'Angelo, “Il tempio di Afrodite nell'antica Akrai” in “Studi acrensi”, 1980-1983).
South-east of the Theatre are the so-called quarries of the “Intagliata” as shown by the presence of some Greek, Roman and Christian graves. We can see various niches with many votive "pinakes", or small votive paintings on the tombs dating back to different ages. Here stands a bas-relief from the first half of the first century BC, depicting a scene of a sacrificial feast of heroes with a central Roman warrior making a sacrifice.
A paved street in lava stone crosses the town from east to west connecting the “Selinunte” Gate with the “Syracuse” Gate. At the foot of the hill there are some important quarries called the “Ferali” Temples. Here the cult of the dead and the heroes was practices, with the typical Greek inscription "Eros agathos" (Noble heroes). The so-called "Santoni" are reliefs depicting the goddess Cybele (the "Great Mother") and other figures. They represent Cybele wearing a long tunic with a “timphanum” [shaman tambourine drum]. Next to the goddess are the figures of Hermes, the Dioscuri and a pair of maned lions as symbols of royalty of the goddess.
See also Akrai history and etymology.