Megara Iblea

Megara Iblea would be, according to the writers of antiquity, one of the three Ible of Sicily:

Ibla Major;

Ibla The small (Megara Iblea);

Ibla Minor.

The Maggiore was perhaps called Tiella (or Stiella) and it is widely believed to place the site near Paternal. The little one was also called the Minima, whose site is supposed to be that of Megara Iblea which, as it is known, is south of Augusta, when it concerns Ibla Minore, many agree that Ibla Erea has also been appealed because it is located on the erei mountains, perhaps mistakenly also called Ibla Nera, Gibla or Nibla, and yes thinks the site is that of Ragusa Ibla.

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In 1867 the excavation work for the construction of the Catania-Syracuse railway they cut the archaeological site in two in the part of the fortifications and in part of the inhabited area. Excavations conducted in 1891 by French archaeologists Georges Vallet e Francois Villard led to the discovery of the northern part of the north-western wall, which partly served as an embankment against floods: apparently it was more evident at the time of Philip Cluverius, a large necropolis, of which around 1 500 tombs have been explored, and a deposit of votive objects from a temple. The city was lapped to the north by the port and had one necropolis containing about a thousand tombs.

The north necropolis was partially covered during the construction of the RASIOM refinery in 1949. The interventions of the Superintendency of Syracuse directed by Bernabo Brea allowed the rescue of some artifacts including the famous statue of Kourotrophos found in pieces on October 30, 1952 and then restored. Interventions decided by the superintendency and theEcole francaise (present since 1949) allowed the saving of the part within the Hellenistic walls.

The numerous archaeological remains, still visible on the site, are the result of excavations carried out immediately after the war, thanks to the great contribution of the aforementioned Vallet and Villard and of the Italian archaeologists Luigi Bernabò Brea e Gino Vinicio Gentili. The conservation of its original urban structure was allowed by the lack of urbanization in modern times.

In the middle of the XNUMXth century, the city was organized following a regular pattern of the urban fabric. An agora with stoa arose on a raised floor on the north and east sides. This is one of the earliest known agora.

On the site are still visible:

• theagorawith the remains of two arcades
• the Hellenistic baths
• theheroon
• the remains of the surrounding walls
• the remains of a Hellenistic temple
• the foundations of an archaic temple
• il prytaneum
• a metallurgical workshop
• the remains of dozens of houses

Source: Ignazio Caloggero, wikipedia

Traces of the Neolithic (100.630) 

Bibliography and in-depth documents:

100) FIRST SICILY - AT THE ORIGINS OF SICILIAN SOCIETY - volume first edited by Sebastiano Tusa Palermo 1997.

Ignazio Caloggero: Sicily between History, Myths and Legends. Vol. 1: From Prehistory to the Phoenicians. First edition 2018 - Revised and updated edition of 2022

History of Sicily - 1.3.1: Neolithic and the birth of agriculture in Sicily

History of Sicily - 1.3.2: Religiosity and Burials in the Neolithic Period

History of Sicily - 1.3.3: Art in the Neolithic

History of Sicily - 1.3.4: Neolithic Sites List

Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero

Photo: By Clemensfranz - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=873500 

Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Region of Sicily

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