The city experienced rapid architectural and demographic growth, documented by the large urban structures built from the first half of the 6th century BC and by the monumentalization of the Athena sanctuary in the upper part of the polis. An inscription found in Samos recalls moments of tension with the indigenous Sican populations of the hinterland, conflicts that probably forced the Himerese, around the middle of the 6th century BC, to seek help from Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigento.
Relations with the Punics of the nearby cities of Palermo and Soluntum were not always peaceful either. In the early 5th century BC, the tyrant Terillus, expelled from the city with the help of Theron, tyrant of Agrigento, having taken refuge in Reggio, requested help from the Carthaginians, who sent a strong army to Sicily.
A coalition of Sicilian Greeks victoriously confronted the Carthaginians in an epic battle fought under the walls of Himera in 480 BC, after which the Temple of Victory was built in the lower city. In the following years, the city remained under the political control of Theron, who encouraged repopulation with Dorian peoples.
The Himerese soon regained independence from Agrigento and were not involved in significant events in the island’s history until 415 BC, when a contingent from Himera took part in the Battle of the Assinaros alongside Syracuse against the Athenians. It was at the end of the 5th century that Himera’s fate was sealed: in 409 BC, during yet another clash with the Carthaginians, the city was destroyed.
The population suffered varied fates: some dispersed into the countryside, others participated with the Carthaginians in founding Thermai Himeraiai (Termini Imerese); a small group likely continued living at the polis site, as evidenced by the remains of houses built atop the city’s destruction layers.
Himera boasted illustrious citizens such as the lyric poet Stesichorus and several Olympic-winning athletes.
The site was inhabited in the subsequent Roman and medieval periods: a Roman villa arose in the westernmost part of the Greek settlement, while around the ruins of the Temple of Victory a farmhouse (Odesver) was built in the Norman period.
The Settlement and the Necropolises
The city’s organization is one of the most interesting aspects of the Greek colonial world, to which Himera makes a significant contribution. Little is known about the initial phase of life (mid-7th – early 6th century BC); in the first half of the 6th century BC, two distinct regular urban plans were designed, characterized by orthogonal streets defining blocks, oriented north-south in the plain, in the lower city, and east-west in the hill settlement, or upper city. A privileged space was reserved for the sanctuaries.
The best known, the Athena Temenos, occupies the northeastern part of the upper city, while in the lower city a large sanctuary included the Temple of Victory. Within the urban fabric, there were also small neighborhood sanctuaries. The entire urban area was protected by a city wall.
The necropolises were located along the main exit routes. The eastern necropolis, situated near the beach, east of the Imera river, in Pestavecchia district, is well-known. The southern necropolis lies in Scacciapidocchi, near the road to the interior; to the west, two necropolis areas are known: at the foot of Piano del Tamburino and on the Buonfornello Plain.
The Antiquarium
Designed by Franco Minissi, the Antiquarium was inaugurated in 1984; after being closed for several years for renovations, it was definitively reopened to the public in 2001. It houses the most notable finds uncovered during excavations at Himera and other sites belonging to the territory of the polis.
The exhibition space, spread over multiple levels connected by ramps, follows a visit itinerary that retraces the main historical and cultural issues of the Greek colony and its territory. In the entrance room, educational panels introduce the site’s history and topography, while a display area is dedicated to a lion-headed gutter from the Temple of Victory and to the medagliere.
The visit continues to the “upper level” where architectural elements and votive offerings from the Athena Temenos, on the upper city, are exhibited. The “central level” is dedicated to objects of “material culture” from excavations carried out in various sectors of the settlement. The “lower level” houses a selection of vases and grave goods from the Necropolises; a section is devoted to important territorial sites such as Terravecchia di Cuti, Monte Riparato, Mura Pregne/Brucato, Cefalù, and an underwater finds exhibition. The visit concludes with the polychrome mosaic of African tradition, found in the Roman villa of Settefrati, located on a cliff overlooking the sea, west of Cefalù.
