Area sacra del Cofino

The Area Sacra del Cofino, in the heart of Vibo Valentia, was once a substantial sanctuary complex. Today, its remains speak of centuries of shifting sacred and secular use. At its core stood a largely destroyed Ionic temple, now reduced to scattered architectural fragments: silenic antefixes, lion-head waterspouts, and palmette decorations hint at its former ornamentation.

South-west of the temple, excavators found a remarkable votive deposit. It contained hundreds of terracotta figurines, mostly female, both standing and seated. Many depict an offering-bearer holding a piglet and a torch, clear tokens of the cult of Persephone and Demeter, goddesses of the underworld and harvest. These offerings span the 6th to early 3rd centuries BC.

The site was later reoccupied during the Roman imperial period, between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, when residential structures were built over the sacred area. The pottery from this phase, African red slip ware, Roman amphorae, tells of daily life, not devotion. A place where the sacred gave way to the domestic.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.