THE SANCTUARY OF MANNELLA

The terrace of the sanctuary is accessible from a pathway along the Saitta-Abbadessa valley which traces an ancient route. Just visible downhill amidst the vegetation there is barricade work constituted of two mighty parallel walls which conveyed the valley waters towards the city and marking an opening for access to the sanctuary. Further uphill, one of the stretches of the mighty wall discovered by Orsi is visible, of square, sandstone blocks, which had the twofold function of acting as an embankment for the waters of the torrent and containing the terrace above, as well as representing the temenos of the sanctuary, that is, of marking its boundary limit. Not visible at the surface of the land, there is, on the other hand, the containment structure, parallel and and defining towards the internal part the space filled by the extremely rich stipe for which the sanctuary itself is famous. At the base of the slope of the hill some limestone blocks indicate the place where there rose a little building discovered by P. Orsi, positioned centrally on a square shaped pit below the paved floor and therefore identifiable as a thesaurus, a building for housing ex voto of high economic value (end of V, beginnings of IV centuries B.C.)