Elymian-Punic Walls of Erice

38°02′28′′N 12°35′16′′E / 38.04110201578538°N 12.587711394288396°E / 38.04110201578538; 12.587711394288396

The Elymian–Punic Walls of Erice are fortifications built around the ancient city of Eryx (modern Erice, Sicily). They were built by the Elymians in the early 5th century BC. They were later modified and expanded under Punic rule. The walls protected the easiest route up Monte Erice to the ancient city and the Temple of Venus Erycina.

About 800 m (0.50 mi) of the walls survive. The main surviving section has three gates: Porta Trapani, Porta Carmine, and Porta Spada. Archaeological excavations have also found the remains of a fourth gate called Porta Castellammare, which faced Castellammare del Golfo.^[1]

There are at least 18 towers along the western side of the walls. The eleven northern towers are larger and contain ancient masonry. The smaller towers to the south were built during the medieval period.^[1]

Excavations at Tower 8 helped archaeologists date the earliest walls. Beneath the tower, they found an older paved surface and a layer containing pottery, including black-glaze vessels from the late 6th and early 5th century BC. This indicated that the construction of the wall began in the early 5th century.^[1]

There are some remains of a wall on the eastern side of the ancient settlement. The foundations that remain show square towers roughly 25 m (82 ft) apart, in front of a wall about 2 to 2.5 m (6 ft 7 in to 8 ft 2 in) thick. These date mostly from the 14th century.^[1]

Archaeological excavations show that the walls were built in two main phases. They were later altered and repaired during the Middle Ages.^[1]

• First phase (early 5th century BC): The lower part of the walls was built from very large, roughly shaped blocks, placed on foundations of small, irregular stones. Black-glaze pottery found beneath Tower 8 was dated to about 490–480 BC, suggesting the first walls were built in the early 5th century BC.^[1]
• Second phase (late 4th–early 3rd century BC): Parts of the walls were built using regular, rectangular blocks (opus quadratum). Pottery found at Tower 10 (e.g. a Morel 2621b cup, c. 285 ± 20 BC) dates this work to the early 3rd century BC. Marks made by Punic stonemasons can be seen on some blocks and are linked to this phase.^[1]
• Medieval works (especially 14th century AD): Large parts of the wall were repaired or rebuilt. Some towers were made smaller and small entrances were added or altered. Smaller, regularly shaped stone blocks are characteristic of this phase.^[1]

Archaeological excavation and studies of the terrain indicate that ancient Eryx was smaller than the medieval and modern town. The ancient settlement was mainly on the northern part of the summit. An old wall found north of Porta Castellammare is thought to mark the northern boundary.^[1]

The southern boundary of the ancient town has been worked out from both the fortifications and the urban layout of the town. Of the surviving towers, only the first eleven contain ancient masonry. Tower 11 appears to have been the last tower on the southern side of the ancient walls. The smaller towers further south were added during the Middle Ages.^[1]

Salvatore De Vincenzo suggests that part of the modern street layout of Erice may follow the line of an ancient southern wall. This line runs east to west between Tower 11 and a rocky area near Porta Castellammare. It may have separated the ancient town to the north from the area added when the town expanded southwards during the medieval period.^[1]

According to this reconstruction, ancient Eryx occupied only the northern part of the summit. The southern part of the present town was added in the Middle Ages. It also suggests that the Temple of Venus Erycina (now the Castle of Venus) was sited on the highest point of the mountain, outside the main settlement.^[1]

The walls of Erice have been studied by archaeologists since the 19th century. Antonino Salinas carried out early investigations in the 1880s, and Jole Bovio Marconi directed excavations in 1957. Much of the material from these early investigations was never published.^[1]

In 1967, Anna Maria Bisi carried out further excavations around the walls and the ancient settlement. Near Tower 1, archaeologists found part of a Punic votive stone dedicated to Tinnit and Baal Hammon. The stone dates from the 4th or 3rd century BC and provides evidence of Punic religious activity at Eryx.^[5]

Between 2009 and 2014, Salvatore De Vincenzo directed new excavations of the walls and the surrounding area.^[1] The work found evidence that the walls had been built and rebuilt at different times. The earliest phase, built with large stone blocks, dates from the beginning of the 5th century BC. A later phase used regular rectangular blocks and dates from the Punic period, possibly around the time of the First Punic War.^[1]

De Vincenzo also argued that the ancient city was smaller than the present town and located below the sanctuary of Venus Erycina, which was outside the ancient city walls. This corresponded with ancient written accounts of where the temple and the city were located.^[1]

In 2025, Gianmarco Girgenti, Fabrizio Avella and Davide Gianluca Abbate studied the remains of the northeastern walls. These walls ran from the present-day Spanish Quarter towards the ruined Porta Castellammare, the endpoint of an ancient route up the eastern side of Monte Erice from the valley near the church of San Barnaba to the town on the summit. The surviving northern stretches are made from dry-stone limestone, while the sections further south were built with mortar and are similar to the medieval parts of the western walls.^[6]

Work to restore and strengthen the walls began in the 1970s. In 2024, the Erice municipality began a new restoration project with 1ドル.94 million in funding from Italy’s PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza). The work includes strengthening the walls, improving paths around the site and adding information signs for visitors.^{[7] [8]}

• Porta Carmine
  Porta Carmine
• Porta Trapani
  Porta Trapani
• Postern gate
  Postern gate
• Defensive masonry
  Defensive masonry
• Route entrance
  Route entrance

• Eryx (city)
• Sanctuary of Demeter
• Necropolis of Piano delle Forche
• Temple of Venus Erycina

• Virtual tour of the Elymian–Punic Walls – from the Comune di Erice