Sea level. 700 inhabitants
It is the
only small town included in the area of the municipality of Santa Marinella
It extends
for about 3 km (1.9 miles). The oldest part of town was built in the 1930s
Site of of
the ancient PYRGI (from Greek pyrgoi = towers), seaport of Caere along with Alsium
It used to
trade for centuries especially with the Greek colonies and Greece itself with heyday
period in the years 600/500 BC
It was the
famous Shrine of Leucothea whose
treasure was plundered in 384 BC by Dionysius of Syracuse
The city
was later abandoned and Rome founded here a fortified colony in 200 BC
Castello di Santa Severa or Castello
di S. Spirito
St.
Severa Castle or Holy Spirit Castle
It was built
by the Counts of Tuscia and it was mentioned by the sources for the first time
in 1068 when the Norman Gerard of Galeria donated it to the monks of Farfa who
owned it until 1130
In 1166 it
was the residence of the Genoese Bailiffs and later passed to the monks of St.
Paul, to the Orsini family, to the Anguillara family and to the Apostolic
Camera who had excommunicated the Anguillaras in 1465
Finally in
1471 it was donated to the Ospedale
di S. Spirito (Hospital of the Holy Spirit)
It was a
place of long stops for popes such as Leo X Medici (1513/21), Paul III Farnese
(1534/49), Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) and scholars while traveling between
Rome and the north
Classic quadrangular
shape with towers at the corners and triple ring of walls built between 1300s
and 1600s
SARACEN
TOWER cylindrical keep of the twelfth century but rebuilt during the sixteenth
century, with the function of sighting the frequent Saracen invasions
There are remains
of walls of a Roman fort (castrum) and
Etruscan elements
It houses
the MUSEO DEL MARE E DELLA NAVIGAZIONE ANTICA (Museum of the Sea and Ancient
Navigation) formerly Civic Archaeological
Museum of Santa Marinella established in 1993 for educational purpose, dedicated
to the theme of sailing in antiquity through the Mediterranean
SEVEN ROOMS
with over 100 Etruscan, Roman and medieval pieces, educational services and
laboratories
Scale
reconstruction of the hold of a Roman ship of the first century BC fully loaded
Reconstruction
of a hydraulic pump installed on
board of ancient ships that would have expelled 210 liters of water per minute
There is also
a sailing simulator for ships with square sails
Archaeological
Site of Pyrgi
Sacred area
of about 6,000 m² (1.5 acres)
Remains of
the SANCTUARY OF LEUCOTHEA bounded by a sacred precinct (temenos) with two temples side by side
Greek
sources say they were dedicated to Leucothea-Ilizia
while Etruscan inscriptions only mention the name of Uni (Juno):
Temple
A
About 460
BC, layout with three cellas parallel at the back and preceded by a colonnade
between the extensions of the side walls, in a pattern typical of sacred Etruscans
buildings
The columns
were originally made out of plastered tufa and the capitals were in peperino stone
Both short
sides were decorated with an open pediment with reliefs, of which the most
lavish and outstanding was undoubtedly the rear one with the Myth of the Seven against Thebes rebuilt
at Villa Giulia where there is
also the Female Head, maybe
representing Thesan Leucothea
Leucothea
was the “White Goddess of the Sea”, called Thesan by the Etruscans
Temple
B
About 500
BC, Greek type with one long cella surrounded by four columns on the front side
and six on the lateral sides
On the two
pediments there were representations of the myth of Hercules
Sacred
area C
Dedicated
to the "chthonic" cult or of the underworld where the three gold foils of Pyrgi today at Villa
Giulia were found
Independent
small sanctuary, with a cylindrical altar of gray tuff, a well and a second
altar in peperino stone
Building
of 20 cells
Parallel to
the long side of the temenos. 20
cells remain intended for priestesses of the goddess that Servius recalls,
citing Lucilius, to be the famous Scorta Pyrgensia,
ie the "Prostitutes of Pyrgi"
Antiquarium
Partial
reconstruction of the terracotta decorations on the upper parts of the temples
"High
relief of temple B with Heracles fighting Hydra assisted by Athena"
Also
red-figure Attic pottery of the fifth century BC, black-figure pottery, votive
materials and other valuable objects
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