Entella

The first historical mention of Entella is found in Diodorus, who tells us that in 404 BC the 1200 Campanian mercenaries, who had been in the service of the Carthaginians during the war, having been admitted into the city on friendly terms, turned their arms against the inhabitants, put all the male citizens to the sword, and made themselves masters of the place, of which they retained possession for many years.

It however continued to subsist throughout the Middle Ages, until the 13th century, when, having been converted into a stronghold by the Saracens, it was taken by the emperor Frederick II and utterly destroyed, the inhabitants being removed to Nocera near Naples.

The site, which still retained its ancient name in the days of Fazello, is described by him as a position of great natural strength, surrounded by abrupt precipices on all sides but one, but having a table land of considerable extent on its summit.

Its location at Rocca d'Entella, in the comune of Contessa Entellina, stands at an angle of the Belice, so that that river encircles it on the north and west.

Most of the tombs in the necropolis "A" date back to the Hellenistic age, as shown by the type of burial and the pottery and the famous inscriptions on bronze tablets with the decrees of the cities of Entella and Nakone, in the Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo.