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Aeolian Islands - The Acropolis

The Acropolis of Lipari stands on the Diana coastal plain and its steep walls plummet down into the sea, thus creating the bays of Marina Lunga to the north and Marina Corta to the south. It acquired its present-day form when the Spaniards built the massive fortifications in the sixteenth century, which incorporated the remains of the mediaeval and Greek fortifications: the latter almost certainly date from the fourth century BC, which was the time when the Greek settlement at Lipari was at its most flourishing. Since the excavations that started in 1950, the acropolis has proved to be an immense historical archive of superimposed strata testifying to the various civilisations that have succeeded one another on the islands.

The archaeological area (where excavations have been concentrated, following exploratory digs over the entire area) extends to the west of the main road to the cathedral and is divided by the road to the churches of the Immacolata and the Addolorata. Beginning from the top, you will see a straight road running from north to south one of the cardines of the ancient town, which crosses another road running from east to west, one of the Roman military roads (decumanus). The main road, which leans noticeably towards the east, had a sewerage canal running alongside it to collect rainwater as well as the waste from the house lining it. All that remains of these is the perimeter walls on the side facing the road, altough you can clearly see how the cement structures of the houses built in the second century AD were superimposed on the earlier buildings.

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