The city and the cliff

We are looking at Solunto. Both the view and the climb to the city gate are just breathtaking. First Punic, then Greek, then Roman. No meter is flat, yet the street network is completely regular, as if they had to. This is an amazing site when you’re standing with two feet on the ground. It is even more amazing when you actually look at it from outer space. Yet, the question that remains unanswered is: why there? Why so high up the mountain? It is very atypical, especially for the seafaring Phoenicians. Or isn’t it?

Miko Flohr, 25/10/2011