 Thermae was founded in the 5th century BCE by the Greeks, as its name imports, as a thermal spa for Selinunte, whose citizens came there to bathe in the sulphurous springs of Mt. Cronio, which rises up behind the town. We have no account of the existence of a town on the site during the period of the independence of Selinunte, though there is little doubt that the thermal waters would always have attracted some population to the spot. Nor even under the Romans did the place attain to anything like the same importance with the northern Thermae; and there is little doubt that Pliny is mistaken in assigning the rank of a colonia to the southern instead of the northern town of the name. Strabo mentions the waters (τὰ ὕδατα τὰ Σελινούντια, Strab. vi. p. 275); and they are again noticed in the Itineraries under the name of Aquae Labodes or Labrodes (Itin. Ant. p. 89; Tab. Peut.) Sciacca itself owes its origins to the Saracens, who settled there in the 9th century. Although the origins of the town's name have been much debated, it is thought to have come from the Arabic word "xacca" (شاقة), meaning "water". The Saracens built the original walls and laid out the street grid, which was later expanded by the Normans. Throughout much of the Middle Ages, the town was at the center of a bloody feud between rival baronial families, and it was the citizenry that bore the brunt of the fighting; in less than 100 years over half the population was killed by one side or the other. Sciacca still retains much of its medieval layout, which divided the town into quarters, each laid out on a strip of rock descending toward the sea. Sciacca has several points of interest, including:
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Thursday, 09 September 2010
