Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
There are hundreds of cyclopean walls on mainland Italy. These megalithic stone constructions are usually attributed to the Romans, whereas those on Sicily were almost definitely built by the Classical Greeks. However, the Romans never mentioned this particular building technique and the Classical Greeks rarely used it, seeing cyclopean walls as something legendary and from their ancient past.
Due to their conspicuousness in the Italian landscape, myths and legends abound. Legend has it that they were built by the Pelasgians, an ancient people from the Aegean. Although, there's limited evidence these people existed or went to the Italian Peninsula. So, if cyclopean masonry had its heyday in the Bronze Age Aegean, how did it end up being adopted by the Romans and a small number of Classical Greek colonies on Sicily? In this video I explore the ancient Greek settlement of Naxos in Sicily and see if I can make sense of this ancient mystery.
#history #mystery #Sicily
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Cyclopean Masonry in Italy
05:18 Giardini Naxos Archaeological Park
08:10 Tauromenium
✨ RELATED VIDEOS
Did The ETRUSCANS Build Italy's CYCLOPEAN Walls?
youtube.com/watch?v=pUKG52KbRiY
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ SUPPORT VIA PATREON
patreon.com/MegalithHunter
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
Instagram & Facebook: @MegalithHunter
Twitter: @Megalith_Hunter
✨ REFERENCES
Attenni, L. (2021). Le Mura Poligonali. Atti del Settimo Seminario. Naples: Valtrendeditore
✨ MUSIC CREDIT
Music I Use: bensound.com/free-music-for-videos
License code: YD3SKFJMVNDTLWEX
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Google Earth
All location pins
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
West walls of Tiryns, credit: Zde
Public domain
Magna Grecia
Lemnian stele
All other photographs, credit: MegalithHunter
There are hundreds of cyclopean walls on mainland Italy. These megalithic stone constructions are usually attributed to the Romans, whereas those on Sicily were almost definitely built by the Classical Greeks. However, the Romans never mentioned this particular building technique and the Classical Greeks rarely used it, seeing cyclopean walls as something legendary and from their ancient past.
Due to their conspicuousness in the Italian landscape, myths and legends abound. Legend has it that they were built by the Pelasgians, an ancient people from the Aegean. Although, there's limited evidence these people existed or went to the Italian Peninsula. So, if cyclopean masonry had its heyday in the Bronze Age Aegean, how did it end up being adopted by the Romans and a small number of Classical Greek colonies on Sicily? In this video I explore the ancient Greek settlement of Naxos in Sicily and see if I can make sense of this ancient mystery.
#history #mystery #Sicily
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Cyclopean Masonry in Italy
05:18 Giardini Naxos Archaeological Park
08:10 Tauromenium
✨ RELATED VIDEOS
Did The ETRUSCANS Build Italy's CYCLOPEAN Walls?
youtube.com/watch?v=pUKG52KbRiY
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ SUPPORT VIA PATREON
patreon.com/MegalithHunter
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
Instagram & Facebook: @MegalithHunter
Twitter: @Megalith_Hunter
✨ REFERENCES
Attenni, L. (2021). Le Mura Poligonali. Atti del Settimo Seminario. Naples: Valtrendeditore
✨ MUSIC CREDIT
Music I Use: bensound.com/free-music-for-videos
License code: YD3SKFJMVNDTLWEX
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Google Earth
All location pins
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
West walls of Tiryns, credit: Zde
Public domain
Magna Grecia
Lemnian stele
All other photographs, credit: MegalithHunter
