The island of San Pantaleo – Phoenician Mozia (TP) – is located in the midst of a shallow water lagoon. It is the largest of the islands in the Stagnone di Marsala archipelago (Isola Grande, Schola, Santa Maria), a nature reserve since 1984. Covered with Mediterranean vegetation, it is linked to the mainland by a paved road just visible beneath the water’s surface in the area of Birgi.
At the end of the 1800s, the island was bought by the Whitaker family who began archaeological excavations. The site of a Phoenician settlement dating to 12th century BCE, the ruined towers of its fortifications, in particular the eastern tower, and the tophet, a sacred area used for the deposition of urns containing the remains of human sacrifices, were revealed. There was a necropolis on the northern coastline of the island where numerous funerary artefacts have been recovered.
In the southern part of the island is the casermetta, a building divided in half with an open-air corridor in the centre. Nearby are the ruins of the house of mosaics, a wealthy two-storey residence built on a slope that descends gently to the sea. The name of the building derives from the floor which is decorated entirely with mosaics of wild animals in white, grey and black pebbles.
There are many natural pools in Mozia, formed by the shallow waters of the lagoon: these include the kothon, an ancient sacred pool adjacent to an open-air temple.
Sicilia Film Commission
Via Emanuele Notarbartolo 9 — 90141 Palermo
Phone: +39 091 7078008; +39 091 7078264; +39 091 7078133; +39 091 7078145
Email: filmcommission@regione.sicilia.it
