Lilybaeum, in the archaeological area of Capo Boéo in Marsala, was an important city in Sicily that was fundamental under Roman rule.
According to Diodorus it was founded in 397 BC by exiles who had fled from Motya – an island opposite the coast inhabited by Punic traders – after Dionysius of Syracuse destroyed it.
Motya now belongs to the Whitaker Foundation, which looks after the estate of archaeologist Joseph Whitaker, sponsor of the first archaeological excavations in the area dating back to 1906.
