Entella

Entella was an ancient city in the interior of Sicily, on the left bank of the river Hypsas, now the Belice, about 40 kilometres from the river mouth and about the same distance from the north coast at the Gulf of Castellamare. It was apparently of Sicanian origin, though tradition tied its foundation to the Elymi, to Acestes or to Elymus, and it ranked with Erice and Segesta among the important Elymian centres. In 404 BC about 1,200 Campanian mercenaries who had served Carthage were admitted to the city and then killed the male citizens and took it over. Dionysius of Syracuse reduced it in 368 BC, and Timoleon later restored its liberty. It was repopulated after the First Punic War, is shown by the Entella Decrees on bronze tablets, and was a flourishing municipium praised by Cicero for its farming of wine and corn. The site, Rocca d'Entella in the comune of Contessa Entellina, is a naturally strong hill encircled by the Belice, with a long northern wall and a sanctuary of Demeter and Kore. The city lasted until the 13th century, when Frederick II destroyed it and moved its people to Lucera.