Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Come with me to Cefalù on Sicily's north coast where I explore this unusual, ancient cyclopean building that sits on the slope of the hill that overlooks the town. There are only two sets of cyclopean walls on Sicily, but dozens more on the Italian Peninsula. Although the general consensus is that they date to classical antiquity, their megalithic appearance and the legends connected to them suggest a Bronze Age connection that's been lost to history. In this video I deconstruct the myths and claims about this remarkable building in Cefalù. Do I solve the mystery? Not really. But I do find some interesting pieces of research that provide some intriguing insights into these ancient structures.
#ancienthistory #cyclopean #italy
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction
01:33 Cyclopean Walls
06:57 The History of Cefalù
09:59 Cefalù’s Cyclopean Building
15:45 The Egyptian Connection
19:02 Astronomical Alignments
20:21 Function of the Temple
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
Bluesky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Laroche, C. and Rosati, G., 2021. Two Egyptian Heart-Scarabs from Sicily and a Parallel from Berlin. Rivista del Museo Egizio, 5.
Gori, D. and Orlando, A., 2016. THE MEGALITHIC TEMPLE OF DIANA ON THE CEFALÙ ROCK (SICILY). Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry, 16(4).
Orlando, A. and Gori, D., 2017. Archaeoastronomical Analysis of the Temple of Diana to Cefalù (Sicily). The Light, The Stones and The Sacred, p.79.
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Google Earth
All location pins
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Scarab discovered near the Temple of Diana, credit: Archivio Fotografico, Museo Archeologico Antonino Salinas
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Map of the Elymian, Sicani areas of Sicily, credit: Halibutt
Rock of Cefalù, credit: Ludvig14
North gate at Mycenae, credit: Patrice78500
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Opus reticulatum, credit: Pouwerkerk
Opus incertum, credit: antonioa89
CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Megaron Temple, Domu de Orgia at Esterzili on Sardina, credit: Aschy
CC BY-SA 2.5 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5
Lion’s Gate, Mycenae, credit: Andreas Trepte
CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Opus isodomum, credit: Carole Raddato
Cefalù, credit: Tamás szabó
Public domain,
Map of Magna Graecia
Painting of the Temple of Diana by Jean Houel
Plan of the Temple of Diana by Nott
Other photographs and videos, credit: MegalithHunter
Come with me to Cefalù on Sicily's north coast where I explore this unusual, ancient cyclopean building that sits on the slope of the hill that overlooks the town. There are only two sets of cyclopean walls on Sicily, but dozens more on the Italian Peninsula. Although the general consensus is that they date to classical antiquity, their megalithic appearance and the legends connected to them suggest a Bronze Age connection that's been lost to history. In this video I deconstruct the myths and claims about this remarkable building in Cefalù. Do I solve the mystery? Not really. But I do find some interesting pieces of research that provide some intriguing insights into these ancient structures.
#ancienthistory #cyclopean #italy
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction
01:33 Cyclopean Walls
06:57 The History of Cefalù
09:59 Cefalù’s Cyclopean Building
15:45 The Egyptian Connection
19:02 Astronomical Alignments
20:21 Function of the Temple
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
Bluesky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Laroche, C. and Rosati, G., 2021. Two Egyptian Heart-Scarabs from Sicily and a Parallel from Berlin. Rivista del Museo Egizio, 5.
Gori, D. and Orlando, A., 2016. THE MEGALITHIC TEMPLE OF DIANA ON THE CEFALÙ ROCK (SICILY). Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry, 16(4).
Orlando, A. and Gori, D., 2017. Archaeoastronomical Analysis of the Temple of Diana to Cefalù (Sicily). The Light, The Stones and The Sacred, p.79.
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Google Earth
All location pins
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Scarab discovered near the Temple of Diana, credit: Archivio Fotografico, Museo Archeologico Antonino Salinas
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Map of the Elymian, Sicani areas of Sicily, credit: Halibutt
Rock of Cefalù, credit: Ludvig14
North gate at Mycenae, credit: Patrice78500
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Opus reticulatum, credit: Pouwerkerk
Opus incertum, credit: antonioa89
CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Megaron Temple, Domu de Orgia at Esterzili on Sardina, credit: Aschy
CC BY-SA 2.5 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5
Lion’s Gate, Mycenae, credit: Andreas Trepte
CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Opus isodomum, credit: Carole Raddato
Cefalù, credit: Tamás szabó
Public domain,
Map of Magna Graecia
Painting of the Temple of Diana by Jean Houel
Plan of the Temple of Diana by Nott
Other photographs and videos, credit: MegalithHunter
