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Archaeological Park
The archaeological park is divided into eastern and western zones by the main SS118 road (Via dei Panoramica Templi) leading to the temples from town. A very useful website with lots of information on the site and guides is La Valle Dei Templi.
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bar/restaurant
There are public toilets and a convenient bar/restaurant in the archeological park amid the usual souvenir stands. Fittingly, this rugby-scrum of a piazza used to be the ancient agora. A better entrance is on Via Panoramica near the Temple of Hera where there is also a ticket office.
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Cathedral
Agrigento's magnificent cathedral was built in the year 1000. It is dedicated to the town's first archbishop, the Norman San Gerlando (St Gerland). It has been radically restructured over the centuries, and has an adjoining unfinished 15th-century bell tower. Inside is the saint's tomb, set in the right wing of the transept. The cathedral also contains a letter from the Devil, who is reputed to have used all his wiles to engineer the downfall of the Virgin of Agrigento.
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Chiesa di San Nicola
In the grounds of the Museo Archeologico is the 13th-century Cistercian Chiesa di San Nicola, with a fine Gothic doorway. Inside, in the second chapel on the right, you'll find a Roman sarcophagus, which bears a wonderful relief of the myth of Phaedra. Alongside it is the Oratory of Phalaris (Oratorio di Falaride), a temple dating from the 1st century BC that was converted into an oratory during the Middle Ages.
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Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Greci
The small Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Greci is accessed through a lovely garden with palm trees and cypresses. It was built in the 11th century on the site of a 5th-century Doric temple dedicated to Athena. Inside are some badly damaged Byzantine frescoes and the remains of the original Norman ceiling. Opening hours are not strictly adhered to.
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Hellenistic-Roman Quarter
To the east of the Museo Archeologico is the Hellenistic-Roman Quarter, featuring a well-preserved street layout which was part of urban Akragas (and later, under the Romans, Agrigentum). The regular grid is made up of main streets (plateiai) intersected at right angles by secondary streets (stenopoi) , all of which were laid out towards the end of the 4th century BC.
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Main Ticket Office
By the entrances to the two zones of the archeological park is the car park and main ticket office where you can enquire about guided tours or pick up an audio guide (in English and Italian only, fee payable).
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Monastero di Santo Spirito
On Via Santo Spirito, at the top of a set of winding steps north off Via Atenea, is the Cistercian Monastero di Santo Spirito (Monastery of the Holy Spirit), founded around 1290. A handsome Gothic portal leads inside, where you can see some fine stuccowork by Giacomo Serpotta plus a statue of the Madonna Incoronata (Virgin Enthroned) by Domenico Gagini.
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Museo Archeologico
About halfway up the road from the archaeological park and towards town is the Museo Archeologico, housing a large collection of well-explained (in Italian and English) artefacts from the excavated site in a series of rooms. The last rooms hold artefacts from around the province - be sure to check out the wonderful ceramic bowls and bronze helmets.
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Museo Civico
Upstairs in the Monastero di Santo Spirito, the small Museo Civico contains a poorly labelled miscellany of objects. The church is usually open the same hours as the museum but if it isn't, ring the bell next door (No 2), where you can also buy cakes and pastries baked on the premises by the resident nuns.
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Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities
Just behind the Temple of the Dioscuri is a complex of altars and small buildings believed to be part of the Santuario di Demetra e Kore. The Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities, as it is known, dates from the early 6th century BC.
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Temple of Asclepios
At the crossroads just inside the entrance to the temples, the path south leads to the Temple of Asclepios (Tempio di Esculapio), off the second fork to the left. The smallest of all the temples, it is distinguished by having solid walls instead of a colonnade.
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Temple of Concord
The Temple of Concord (Tempio della Concordia) is the only temple to survive the unforgiving hands of time and history relatively intact. It was built around 430 BC and was converted into a Christian basilica in the 6th century; thankfully, the new tenants reinforced the main structure, giving it a better chance of surviving an earthquake. In 1748 the temple was restored to its original form.
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Temple of Hera
The Temple of Hera (Tempio di Hera) was partially destroyed by an earthquake in the Middle Ages. Just behind the eastern end is a long altar originally used for sacrifices. The traces of red are the result of fire damage, most likely during the Carthaginian invasion of 406 BC.
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Temple of Hercules
The temples that stand unfettered and unenclosed in the eastern zone are the most spectacular of all. The first of these is the Temple of Hercules (Tempio di Ercole), immediately inside the entrance and to the right. Its origin is uncertain but it is believed to be the oldest of the lot, dating from the end of 6 BC. Eight of its 38 columns have been raised and you can wander around the remains of the rest.
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Temple of Olympian Zeus
Across Via dei Panoramica Templi is the entrance to the western zone, the main feature of which is the crumbled remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Covering an area measuring 112m x 56m, with columns 20m high, it would have been the largest Doric temple ever built had its construction not been interrupted by the Carthaginian sack of Akragas. Ironically, the foundations for the temple had been laid by Carthaginian prisoners captured after the Battle of Himera nearly 100 years previously.
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Temple of the Dioscuri
The Temple of the Dioscuri is also known as the Temple of Castor and Pollux. It was built towards the end of the 5th century but was destroyed by the Carthaginians, later restored in Hellenistic style and then destroyed again by an earthquake. What you see today dates from 1832, when it was rebuilt using materials from other temples.
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Tomb of Theron
A little temple set on a high base is known as the Tomb of Theron (Tomba di Therone), the Greek tyrant of Agrigento, but in fact the structure dates from around 75 BC, during the Roman occupation, nearly 500 years after the tyrant's death.
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Valley of the Temples
One of Sicily's premier attractions, the Unesco World Heritage-listed Valley of the Temples, is a complex of temples and old city walls that remain from the ancient city of Akragas and are reason enough to visit the Mediterranean coast of the island. The five Doric temples actually stand along a ridge, not a valley, designed to be visible from all around and a beacon for homecoming sailors.
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Showing 1-19 of 19 results
