Selinunte is located in the southwest coast of Sicily in the province of Trapani, close to the border with Agrigento province. While Agrigento boasts more standing Greek temples in its renowned "Valley of the Temples," Selinunte is set in a much more tranquil and scenic setting, with an ambience that permits a good impression of what an ancient Greek city and life in it were really like. The city of Selinunte proper, known as the "Acropolis," is situated on high land overlooking the Mediterranean Sea about twenty meters below. The Acropolis is located roughly in the center of the park's area.
Sciacca is a picturesque seaside town built on rocky heights that overlook the splendid beaches and the Mediterranean Sea midway between Marsala and Agrigento. Sciacca is noted mostly for its beautiful beaches, its numerous artisan shops which specialize in ceramic ware, and its Thermal Spa complex. The town of Sciacca is a 30-minute drive east from Selinunte and its temples and less than an hour's drive west from Agrigento. Archeological evidence suggests that a settlement here was inhabited in prehistoric times as early as the Neolithic Era, and that Sciacca was a small Sicanian village. Greeks from nearby Selinunte came here to use the hot springs. Sciacca became known as "Thermae Selinuntinas" during the Roman period and reached a level of importance when the Roman emperor Diocletian designated the town to be the center of the imperial courier service for Sicily. Sciacca declined in importance after the ravages brought by the Germanic invasions, and didn't fare much better during the Byzantine period.
This city in central Sicily is identified with ancient Nissa, and natives of Caltanissetta are called nisseni. It is about 568 meters above sea level, on the slopes of Mount San Giuliano overlooking the Salso River Valley. There are traces of both Sicanian and Greek villages at Caltanissetta. The former dates from about 600 BC. Caltanissetta boasts a large seventeenth-century cathedral built on the site of a much older church, and several late-medieval churches in the old part of town, though most of the latter, having been extensively modified in successive centuries, reflect little of their Middle Ages. There are also several interesting Baroque palaces (particularly Palazzo Moncada and the Bishop's Palace), and the streets of the old quarter are not without a certain charm. The town is not as high as Enna, traditionally more important because it was a more populous royal city that appertained directly to the Crown and afforded its knights an extensive view of the surrounding country. Caltanissetta was a smaller feudal town belonging to a family of counts.