τὰ Μέγαρα (in Ancient Greek) | |
 Mosaics on the floor of a house near the western gate of Megara Hyblaea. | |
  Shown within Italy | |
| Location | Augusta, Sicily, Italy |
|---|---|
| Region | Sicily |
| Coordinates | 37°12′14.04″N 15°10′54.84″E / 37.2039000°N 15.1819000°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Builder | Greek settlers from Megara |
| Founded | 8th century BC |
| Abandoned | Approximately 483 BC |
| Periods | Archaic Greek |
| Cultures | Greek |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1891 |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Ownership | Public |
| Management | Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali ed Ambientali di Siracusa |
| Public access | Yes |
Megara Hyblaea (Ancient Greek: Μέγαρα Ὑβλαία) – perhaps identical with Hybla Major – is an ancient Greek colony of Magna Graecia in Sicily, situated near Augusta on the east coast, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-northwest of Syracuse, Italy, on the deep bay formed by the Xiphonian promontory.[1] There were at least three (and possibly as many as five) cities[2] named "Hybla" in ancient accounts of Sicily which are often confounded with each other, and among which it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish.[3]
- ^ See Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (ISBN 0-691-03169-X), Map 47.
- ^ The circumstance that there were so many towns called Hybla in Sicily probably arose from the fact mentioned by Pausanias, that there was a local divinity of the name. (Paus. v. 23. § 6.)
- ^ For example, William Smith, Britain's foremost classicist of the 19th century, begins to describe Hybla Major with an admixture of locational and historic information from both Hybla Gereatis and Megara Hyblaea. Caution should therefore be used when assuming reference to "Hybla" in an ancient source refers to this city.