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To the north of the bay of Saturo there is a valley, crossed by a stream that originates from a spring (Sorgente) located in its innermost recess. The presence of the spring (which the ancients often associated with the manifestation of a number of divinities) was one of the reasons why the Greeks of Saturo built an important sanctuary in the valley as early as the mid-VII century B.C. The sanctuary was organised around an area occupied by four quadrangular buildings, (one of which had a portico) built between the VI and IV centuries B.C., arranged around a small courtyard and accessible from a road carved in the rock. The buildings have been interpreted as intended for a particular cult practice, i.e. communal meals.
A series of pits were distributed around the buildings. These have been interpreted as votive deposits, in which the objects used in religious practices or offered by the believers to the divinity were collected to avoid their dispersion. The deposits (all sealed in the III century B.C.) contained thousands of ceramic fragments, terracotta statuettes, jewellery and other materials, dating back to between the VII and III century B.C. In addition, a stone shrine was found along the western slope of the valley, containing silver and gold coins from the Hellenistic age.
The sanctuary was home to the veneration of Aphrodite (goddess of love) and Gaia (personification of the earth), both associated with fertility and the female world; perhaps the nymph Satyria, mother of Taras, the mythological founder of Taranto, was also venerated there.
Indirizzo: Viale Saturo, 74020 Leporano TA
Telefono: 340 9247013
Email: parcosaturo@libero.it
