A plunge into the past: how to get to and what to see in Motya

Once, it was the name of the city and of the small island. Less known than Erice and Segesta, Motya today is a place for a real plunge into an ancient past. You just need to know how to get there and what to see.

Where it is

Motya was an ancient Phoenician city. The ruins are located on the small San Pantaleo island, in the province of Trapani, west coast of Sicily, where you can arrive with a ferry to Sicily.

The small island is in the Lagoon of Marsala, the largest lagoon in Sicily. Besides San Pantaleo, in the lagoon there are three other islands: Isola Grande, Schola and Santa Maria.

How to get there

From the landing stage in Contrada Spagnola, in the Lagoon of Marsala, small boat bring visitors to San Pantaleo island. The boat trip takes just five minutes.

• The journey by car from Trapani takes about 30 minutes (county road 21 towards Marsala).
• The journey by car from Marsala takes about 20 minutes (county road 21 towards Trapani).

What to see

Now that you know how to get to Motya, these are the things to see:

• The ancient two kilometers long wall built along the whole coast of the small island.
• The three doors of the city: Porta Nord, Porta Sud and Porta Est.
• The artificial paved road that, in ancient times, joined the island to the mainland and now is submerged by the sea.
• The Cappiddazzu sanctuary, a sacred area not far from Porta Nord.
• The necropolis: the tombs are small graves dug in the rock or into the soil where the urn containing the ashes of the deceased was placed.
• The Tophet of Motya, on the north coast, is a Phoenician-Punic sanctuary: it’s long about sixty meters.
• The remains of the city Motya, located in the central part of the island.
• The so-called “casa dei mosaici” (“house of mosaics”), along the island’s southeast coast.
• The casermetta, between casa dei mosaic and Porta Sud.
• The Cothon (a sacred pool adjacent to the temple) and the dry dock.
• The Whitaker Museum.

Motya is a small island (850 metres long and 750 metres wide): 2-3 hours are enough to visit it.

Image source: Flickr.com/photos/68973215@N07