Cave di Cusa or Rocche di Cusa was an ancient stone quarry in Sicily. It is located 3 kilometers south of the town Campobello di Mazara in the province of Trapani, Italy. It is 1.8 kilometer long and is on a ridge that spans from east to west. This site was quarried beginning in the first half of the 6th century BC and its stone was used to construct the temples in the ancient Greek city Selinunte. It was abandoned in 409 BC when the city was captured by the Carthaginians. It is now an official Sicilian Archeological Zone and a popular tourist site.
Raw columns for the unfinished Temple G of SelinunteCave di Cusa was the source of stone used to build the town of Selinunte's sacred temple. Selinunte was a Greek temple that was located 13 km southwest from the quarry. That area of Sicily was inhabited mainly by the ancient Greeks. The stone found at Cave di Cusa site was very suitable for building and therefore a material of choice. Its texture and tufa (resistant limestone) material made it suitable for the construction of the local Greek temple. This quarry was mined for about 150 years. There is evidence to believe that at one time, 150 people worked there. Many of them were slave laborers.[citation needed]
In 409 BC Cave di Cusa was suddenly abandoned due to the arrival of Carthaginian invader Hannibal Mago. This visit broke out into a war, and ultimately Selinunte was defeated. The town was destroyed after the defeat, and no work occurred at the quarry again. The slaves and laborers fled the scene and escaped to safety.[citation needed] The blocks of stone that were being worked on were abandoned and remain at the site. In its day, Cave di Cusa was very efficient.[citation needed]
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