Museo Whitaker "Giovinetto di Mozia"

Mozia (also known as Mothia, Motya), today San Pantaleo is an island of the Lagoon of Marsala. Was situated on the ancient Phoenician city name. The island faces the west coast of Sicily, between l, Grande Island and the mainland, and belongs to the Whitaker Foundation.
On the sea level has increased by about half a meter at the Phoenician, and therefore part of the submerged archaeological remains clear.
Access to the island is only two private boat, which not only link the same Mozia to the mainland can also visit the other islands of the Lagoon. The island belongs to the Whitaker Foundation, and while it is open to the public and open during hours of operation, is in force the prohibition of unauthorized landing. In ancient road linking the island to the mainland between Cape San Teodoro and the extreme northern tip moziese: today the same way it appears black and is no longer viable because of erosion and algae.

The early twentieth century the entire island was bought by Joseph Whitaker, an archaeologist and heir of an English family who had moved to Sicily enriched with the production of Marsala. It was he promoting the first real archaeological dig, which began in 1906 and continued until al1929: it brought to light the sanctuary of the Phoenician-Punic Cappiddazzu, part of the ancient necropolis, called House of Mosaics, the area of Tophet, areas of North Gate and South Gate and Casermetta; Whitaker is also engaged in the arrangement of the excavations, bought the island and by arranging the museum. In 1930 the excavation of the sanctuary was completed by Cappiddazzu Pirro Marconi, but only since 1955 the excavations were continued by a British archaeological mission of the University of Leeds, led by Benedikt Isserlin and also involving Pierre Cintas, a famous archaeologist who had already excavated at Carthage: The survey covered the areas of South Gate and North Gate and Kothon, and was brought to light a prehistoric hut in the Cappiddazzu.

In 2005, initiated the first underwater archaeological investigations led by Prof. Sebastiano Tusa of Superintendence of the Sea with the support of Coop.SYS which brought to light on the road submerged structures identifiable as the platform.

In 1979, during an excavation in "Cappiddazzu" neighborhood "industrial" Mozia ancient Phoenicians (about two meters deep, under a heap of stones) was discovered that, for so long, was called "The youth of Mozia".
This is a monumental statue of type greek, marble Ionian Thessaly, high just under six feet, from the second half of the fifth century BC (The school of Phidias) and, perhaps, was a fine show in the agora of Mozia exposed outdoors.
Prof. Juan Alfonso Cuny, the Fine Arts in Spain, visiting the Museum of Marsala, where the statue stood, acknowledged in the features of the sculpture Apollo Patroo (Apolllo water that comes from driving the chariot of the sun) , its the identical conclusion also arrived Prof. Giuseppe Agosta, a distinguished archaeologist of Marsala, and Dr. Ernesto La Rosa, vice chief of Palermo and scholar of archeology.
All three have come to that certainty through the deductive method, and in particular:
ensuring, first, that the statue, of course, intended to be a God (the curls on the head), a charioteer (the charioteers of the belt around the chest) identifiable, particularly from the wet tunic.

The house on the island, the Museum Whitaker became a small antiquarium where they were artifacts from the excavations.
After his death, his wife and two daughters Norina and Delia continued its extraordinary cultural life and death of Delia in 1971 was established the current Foundation.
Collection Whitaker is a valuable record of archaeological research carried out Mozia Birgi and Lilybaeum.
Thanks to the research of J. Whitaker, the museum houses archaeological finds from excavations is systematic, it is found randomly. They were joined by donations and purchases.
The archaeological materials were increasing enough to fill shelves, cupboards and shelves for having a composite exposure. At the entrance of the house were placed the sculptural complex of two lions attacking a bull and the capitals of the House of Mosaics.
The museum houses over the Young Mozia, funerary objects from the Archaic cemetery island, commercial amphora, Greek, Phoenician and Etruscan, a rich collection of vases painted black and red figures of the necropolis of Birgi, including material from Tophet, from the town of Mozia and the House of Mosaics.
But jewelry and weapons, amulets and scarabs and objects carved above the original captions as well as cosmetic or surgical instruments and fragments from the necropolis of stelae entered Lilybaeum.
The jewelry pieces are mostly silver and bronze than gold, fair bill, between the seventh and fourth centuries BC and engraved gems, carnelian, amber and rock crystal are from Lilybaeum and fall within the current production of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.