Segesta, in the northwest of Sicily, Italy, is the home to one of the best preserved Greek temples and a wonderful Roman theatre. The theatre was built at the top of a mountain and consequently has a beautiful panoramic view of the vista to the north.

Little is known about the city Segesta itself under Roman rule, but it is probable that the population gradually moved to the port city of Castellammare del Golfo due to the better trading opportunities.

Segesta was the political center of the Elymian people. According to the tradition used in Virgil's Aeneid, Segesta was founded jointly by the territorial king Acestes (who was son of the local river Crinisus by a Dardanian woman) and by those of Aeneas' folk who wished to remain behind with Acestes to found the city of Acesta.

The belief that the name of the city was originally Acesta or Egesta and changed to Segesta by the Romans to avoid its ill-omened meaning in Latin is disproved by coins showing that Segesta was indeed the earlier name.

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