Mozia

Motya was founded by Phoenicians in the eighth century BC on a low island in the Stagnone lagoon and destroyed in 397 BC, after which it was never rebuilt over, so the Punic city plan survives with its walls, gates, a dry dock called the cothon and a tophet. A causeway of stone built by the Phoenicians runs under the shallow water to the mainland and is still visible. Joseph Whitaker, an English marsala merchant and ornithologist, bought the island and excavated it. In 1979 diggers found the Motya Charioteer, a marble youth in a pleated tunic of about 460 BC, now displayed on the island.

History

The settlement was founded in the first half of the 8th century BC as a Phoenician colony, probably at first a trading station, and by 650 BC it was a busy port trading across the central and western Mediterranean. Around the middle of the 6th century BC Carthaginian forces under Malchus sacked it, but the city soon recovered. The marble Motya Charioteer was found here in 1979 and is shown in the local Giuseppe Whitaker museum (Wikipedia, Motya).

What you'll find

• The Motya Charioteer - a marble youth of about 460 BC found in 1979.
• The Punic causeway - a submerged stone road to the mainland.
• The cothon - a rectangular basin cut into the island's edge.
• The city walls - Phoenician gates and defences never built over.

When to go

April to October; the boat crossing is short but weather dependent. The island is exposed with little shade. It closes some Mondays and in bad weather.

What to expect

Access is only by small boat with limited sailings. There is almost no shade. The site is low ruins apart from the museum and statue.

Nearby

Marsala lies south; the salt pans line the lagoon.

Key facts