CAMARINA
Camarina was founded as a Greek
town at the behest of Syracuse; it suffered assaults
from
both the Carthaginians and the Romans who finally destroyed it in
598 BC. Excavations have revealed the remains of a temple dedicated
to Athena (incorporated in the masonry of the 19C building which
now houses the museum), sections of plateia B, the market-place
and stoà – the portico over the covered market, and
a residential quarter dating from Hellenistic times (marked by the
fence on the other side of the road).
Museo
Archeologico Regionale di Camarina – In the first
room are the most recent finds recovered as a result of ongoing
work; these are gradually replaced and transferred to the permanent
collection. The layout is therefore subject to reorganisation. The
sea off Camarina has proved to conceal a wealth of treasures lost
in numerous wrecks: a wonderful Corinthian bronze helmet (6C-5C
BC), an Attic-Etruscan helmet (4C BC), an elegant bronze and enamel
perfume container
(2C AD), and a hoard of more than
1,000 bronze coins (AD 275). There is also an unusual set of lead
weights recovered from the sea bed from the area below the market-place.
The museum possesses a vast collection of Corinthian (older and
therefore more crudely made) and Attic amphorae. The Etruscan and
Punic amphorae are different, being more elongated. The section
devoted to the Archaic period contains a fine aryballos (a small
bucket-like vessel used for drawing water from a well) decorated
with two lions facing each other (T 2281) from the necropolis at
Rifriscolaro.
Not far away, between Punta Secca
and Casuzze, is the Parco Archeologico di Kaucana. There are two
entrances to the archeologicai site: one along the coastal road,
the other on the way from Punta Secca to Marina di Ragusa. It encloses
the ruins of a residential area and a small Paleo-Christian church. |
