Lilibeo, Marsala, Italy - SpottingHistory

Lilibeo or Lilybaion was originally a Carthaginian city founded around 397 BCE. It became soon a dynamic trade and handicraft centre. In the Hellenistic period it was a multiethnic town where Punic, Greek and Roman people lived together.

After a long siege, it was subdued by the Romans in the first Punic war in 241 BCE. Cicero mentioned Lilibeo in 76-75 BCE as a 'magnificient town'. During the age of Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 AD) it was the seat of flourishing Christian community.

Vandals led by Genseric devastated Lilibeo in 440. However, it was still one of the most important cities of Sicily in the early Middle Ages. Later Arabs named the city as Marsah Allah, meaning 'the harbor of God'. This is why the city is today called Marsala.

Today you can visit on a Lilibeo Archaeological Park, which exhibits the Insulae with its mosaics, Roman baths, fortifications and findings.

User Reviews

Katja P (4 years ago)
The staff was very unfriendly to us, as non Italians. They did not even say hello when we came in and didn't even try to help us understand anything. We felt like a burdon to them, disrupting their coffee break. The museum is modern from the inside, but a disaster from the outside. We would not recommend it to anyone.

Domenico Milillo (4 years ago)
L'abbiamo visitato a fine Giugno 2021, e confermiamo quanto già recensito da altri: vi sono reperti archeologici di notevole interesse all'interno del museo - a parte le navi che la fanno da padrone, avete visto la tessera di scambio?? - mentre il parco esterno è purtroppo lasciato a se stesso, e meriterebbe ben altra considerazione. Personale di servizio molto disponibile e gentile.

giuseppe enrico (5 years ago)
Must be developed

Roberto Mercanti (5 years ago)
The exhibits are beautiful, but dirty and poorly maintained

giuseppe enrico (5 years ago)
Must be developed

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.

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