Solunto

In these general plans of the city of Solous one can identify the plateiai, which run from east to west and are wider. They cross the north–south stenopoi, narrower streets, forming a grid pattern. The various quarters are differentiated either by the social status of the inhabitants or by the functions performed in the spaces: shops along the main street; public, religious and civic buildings grouped in the same western section of the city; a craft zone to the south-west. Public and private cisterns for collecting rainwater and drains and channels for carrying away dirty water have also been discovered (Moscati, 1999: 239-240)

Plans and view of the archaeological site from the bouleuterion, dated to the 3rd–2nd centuries BC.

Plan of Solous and its central area. According to Bollati (1999), the urban fabric of Solous was based on rectangles of 40 x 80 metres, subdivided by a longitudinal cut along their whole length (0.80–1.00 metres), with their shorter side on the primary axes.
In the peripheral area there are generally 8 dwellings (at most 400 m²) per plot; in the central area generally 6 dwellings (about 550 m²) per plot.
What survives today is the grid of the Late Hellenistic and Roman period, built over the older, original urban grid. In the houses of the peripheral area the predominant plan is the one with open courtyards, without a peristyle.

The city was built on the plateau of Monte Catalfano, which slopes down from west to east from a height of 240 m to 150 m above sea level. The city plan is orthogonal, oriented north-east/south-west. The most densely inhabited area is estimated at around 18 hectares.
Three main streets (plateiai) running north-east/south-west have been excavated, and they are crossed by other narrower streets (stenopoi) which, being on the slope of the plateau, are adapted to the terrain in the form of stairways. The blocks measure 40 by 80 m, laid out with their shorter side on the main axes.
Of the three main streets excavated, one is considered the most important, since it is wider (between 5.60 and 8 m), has a distinctive brick surface (the others are surfaced with limestone) and leads directly to the public area of the city on the north side.
On the terrace above the theatre there are traces of sacred buildings, but they are still little understood. It is thought that an acropolis may have been located here.
The view of the plain extending to the sea is magnificent, and we wonder how far the territory (the khóra) of Solous extended, whether there was an organised harbour, and whether there was a harbour agora.
Coarelli and Torelli (1984: 34) observe that in the more peripheral urban area the blocks are divided into eight residences of 400 m², while in the more central area the blocks are divided into six houses of 540 m², with inner courtyards with peristyles, mosaics or wall paintings.
Although these details date from the 2nd and 1st centuries, the orthogonal grid seems to be that of the 4th century, when the city was rebuilt. Indeed, a visit to this site shows an adaptation to the terrain very similar to that of the 4th-century orthogonal plan of the city of Priene in Asia Minor.

Gymnasium. This building was in fact named the Gymnasium because an inscription recording the practice of the ephebeia in the city was found there. The anastylosis (re-erection of the columns) is a 19th-century work and entirely fanciful. On the other hand, excavations have now shown that this building housed a rich house, including wall paintings, dated to the 1st century AD.

The public area of the city consists of an agora on the left (west side) of the main street. The agora is reached by this street, which is 5.80 m wide but widens to 8 m at the level of the agora. This happens from the crossing with one of the transverse streets now called Via Salinas. Interestingly, there is here a kind of threshold that may have served to prevent vehicles from entering the public area.
The first building, on the left just before the open square proper, is a sanctuary consisting of two different structures with several rooms, courtyards, etc. (full description in Coarelli/Torelli, 1984: 41), but opening onto the main street. It is a Punic sanctuary, since aniconic stelae were found there (on display in the site museum) and perhaps the Stele of the Punic Baal discovered at this site in 1825, now in the Palermo Museum.
On the same side, the square is bordered by a portico with nine exedrae at the back, rectangular in plan, with two columns at the entrance and benches around the walls. Continuing along the main street, one sees the northern limit of the agora, formed by an enormous cistern, undoubtedly public and covered, since three rows of columns intended to support the roof are still in situ. On the east side of the main street, opposite this agora, there is a series of buildings with small rooms (public buildings?) and also a large cistern (approximately 2 by 2 m). This east side has collapsed.
Still on the north side, on the terrace above the agora, are the theatre and a bouleuterion, dated to the 3rd century according to information at the site, and also a palaestra.
Data on the agora are scarce, and the elements observed are possibly of a later period. The lower part, with the portico and exedrae, seems to have had a more commercial purpose, while the upper part, with the bouleuterion, theatre and palaestra, seems more connected with civic activities.

The theatre of Solous, located in the public area of the city, had two building phases, the first dating from the 3rd–2nd centuries BC, like the bouleuterion. Note that beside the theatre a large rectangular building ending in a tholos was discovered. This building has been interpreted as a gymnasium/palaestra, by comparison with others of the same type found in Greek cities.

Construction details; mosaics in the House of the Mosaic and wall painting. Late Hellenistic period.

Model of Solous on top of a hill. The city of Solous, the Phoenician-Punic emporion referred to by Thucydides (VI.2), lies on the plateau of S. Cristoforo, on the Solanto promontory. The presence of an Archaic and Classical settlement has been recorded there.
"Located on the Solanto promontory, a spur with an almost triangular top a little more than 30 metres above sea level, curving between the inlet of Porticello and the wide, open coastline of Casteldaccia. In this position Solous controlled both the outlet of the river valley of Cefalà and Casteldaccia and most of the imposing Capo Zafferano." (Greco, C. in Aubet and Barthelemy, 1995, p. 1319)

The necropolis of Solous extends along the limestone cliff overlooking the Olivella coast into the present-day town of Santa Flavia. The sector of the necropolis of the Archaic and Classical periods runs at right angles to the coastline (Greco, C. in Aubet and Barthelemy, 1995)

Large cisterns were excavated in the public area of Solous. However, besides these large cisterns, numerous other small cisterns were found in the middle of the blocks and residences. Drainage was by means of channels running through the middle of the rectangular blocks in the narrower direction.

A residence excavated at Solous in which the position of the inner courtyard, in Hellenic style, can be seen perfectly. It should be noted that seven houses of this type have been excavated at Solous and dated to the 4th century BC. More recently, however, it has been thought that they may date from the 2nd century BC. The evidence is very weak. Nevertheless, the persistence of a Greek house model with an inner courtyard from which the other spaces were distributed can be seen (Nevett, p. 142-143)

Sacred building where the three betyls were found – sacred stones whose name derives from the Hebrew Beth-el, meaning "dwelling of the gods".