are three temples, the Temple of Baal, the Temple of Astrarte and the "sanctuary of the Holy Waters". The temples of Baʿal and Astarte date to the first Phoenician settlement 800–750 BC. At this time, the site of the later Kothon was a natural spring-fed pool with a block-lined side. The Kothon was rebuilt as a monumental pool with the rest of the city between 550-520 BC after the destruction of the city by the Carthaginians. The Kothon had a platform in the centre as a base for a statue of the Phoenician god Baʿal. Only after the destruction of the city in 397/6 BC was a section of the nearby city wall dismantled and a small channel opened in the Kothon wall towards the sea. In the later Roman period (2nd to 4th c. AD) it was used for fish farming and the production of salt. City walls The city walls originally enclosed the entire island and are best preserved along the east coast. In 1874 the area of the North Gate was discovered where a large sculpture ornamented the double-arch passage. The city walls were revealed further by G. Whitaker at the beginnìng of the last century. Their systematic exploration started in the 1960s by the Brltish Expeditlon who focused on the North and South Gates. From 1974 to 1992 La Sapienza University of Rome carried out yearly campaigns on walls, especially along the eastern and northern shores. Four major constructlonal phases were identified. They resumed excavation in 2002 with the identification of the West Gate and the excavation of the western fortress. Since 2015 archaeology was resumed on the walls between the East Tower and the North Gate. The 4 phases are: Phase 1 (550–520 BC): the main wall had a width of about , with rectangular towers at regular intervals () along the perimeter and can be admired on the northern and eastern sides of the island. The foundation was of irregular ashlars of medium size, forming a double curtain on outer and inner faces with mud mortar, and an inner fill. The upper layers used greyish mudbricks. Phase 2 (520–480 BC): the main wall was built on a new foundation high of big limestone blocks. The upper layers used reddish-brown mudbricks plastered with lime. The North Gate is protected by adding two projecting towers. Phase 3 (480–450 BC): the wall is further reinforced by adding