Monte Porcara, 388 metres high, lies in the municipal territory of Bagheria and is the site of an archaeological settlement. It is made of Numidian flysch, a formation of quartz sandstones alternating with silty clays, common in central-western Sicily.
What to see
According to a recent hypothesis, the ruins on the mountain should be identified with the indigenous city of Paropo; some scholars place the settlement in the Chora Soluntina and identify it with the ancient Paropos. The sources describe it as an important Hellenised indigenous centre, where Elymians, Sicanians, Punic people and Chalcidians from Zancle lived side by side. Near the summit there are scant remains of the defensive walls and of the necropolis, with cist tombs made of calcarenite slabs and monolithic sarcophagi of the same material, still clearly distinguishable in 1968.
In the second half of the twentieth century silver rings were found on the site, one engraved with the symbol of the goddess Tanit, and Punic objects in polychrome glass paste, among them alabastra, amphoriskoi, oinochoai and bearded heads; then enamelled paste amulets, a small amber head, a clay disc with Helios in relief, clay dice and lava-stone mortar pestles. More recently abundant fragments of Attic pottery of the fifth century BC have come to light. In that same fifth century BC the settlement had strong economic growth, under the commercial and cultural influence of Himera; after that city fell, many exchanges shifted towards Panormos and Solunto.
Visiting
The mountain is part of the municipal territory of Bagheria. The sources consulted give no paths, access points or hours: check them before climbing, as well as the state of the site, of which few remains survive.
Our editors' tip
The materials found in the settlement are kept at the Regional Archaeological Museum of Palermo. Also in the territory of Bagheria, in a cave on Monte Catalfano, a deposit with human remains and fragments of tools of the Middle Bronze Age was found, probably linked to the Thapsos culture.
