Agrigento - the Valley of the Temples

All photos unless otherwise stated: Per-Erik Skramstad © Wondersofsicily.com

 

The Valley of the Temples, Agrigento. In the background: The Temple of Concord.

The Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) is an archaeological site in Agrigento, Sicily, showcasing some of the finest examples of ancient Greek art and architecture in Magna Graecia. Despite its name, the site is located on a ridge outside Agrigento. Since 1997, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Covering 1,300 hectares, it is the largest archaeological park in Europe and the Mediterranean. The Valle dei Templi is one of Sicily's main attractions.

 

The beautiful bronze statue depicting the fallen Icarus, who flew too close to the sun.

 

The Valley of the Temples features seven Doric-style temples, with their names traditionally assigned during the Renaissance. The temples are:

Temple of Concordia

Built in the 5th century BC and converted into a church in the 6th century AD, it's the best-preserved temple.

Via Sacra. Temple of Concord.

 

Temple of Concord.

 

The Temple of Concord is one of the best preserved temples of antiquity, most likely because it served as a church during the Middle Ages.

 

Temple of Concord in the Valley of Temples, Agrigento. Photo must have been taken before 1907.

Temple of Hera

Also from the 5th century BC, it was burned by the Carthaginians in 406 BC.

Temple of Hera, Agrigento.

Temple of Heracles

The oldest in the valley, now reduced to eight columns after being destroyed by an earthquake.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Built in 480 BC to commemorate Akragas' victory over Carthage, it featured large atlases.

Temple of Castor and Pollux

Known for its four surviving columns, it symbolizes modern Agrigento.

Temple of Hephaestus

Once imposing, it's now heavily eroded.

Temple of Asclepius

Located outside the city's walls, it attracted pilgrims seeking healing.

The valley also houses the Tomb of Theron, a pyramidal monument likely commemorating Romans who died in the Second Punic War.

 

Colossal Atlases (aka Telamons)

In between the columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus (Tempio di Giove Olimpico, the largest Doric temple ever constructed, but never completed), were colossal atlases (aka telamons), stone figures standing some 7.5 m high. The nude figures were standing with their backs to the wall and hands stretched above their heads.

 

Temple ruins in Agrigento.

 

 

 

 

The Defensive Wall around Akragas

 

In Italian, but you can turn on auto translated subtitles (CC) and choose your language in the Settings (the wheel).

 

 

Arcosolium

The cliff-line served as a natural defensive wall during the Greek period. The cavities in this "wall" (arcosolia, singular: arcosolium) characterized by an a curved upper surface are tombs made between the 4th and the 7th century AD.

An arcosolium is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from Latin arcus, "arch", and solium, "throne" (literally: "place of state") or post-classical "sarcophagus". Early arcosolia were carved out of the living rock in catacombs. In the very earliest of these, the arched recess was cut to ground level. Then a low wall would be built in the front, leaving a trough (the cubiculum, "chamber") in which to place the body. A flat stone slab would then cover the chamber containing the body, thus sealing it. The stone slab occasionally also served as an altar, especially for Christians. who celebrated Mass on them. In the later arcosolia, the arched recess was carved out to about waist height. Then the masons cut downwards to make the chamber into which the corpse would be placed. In effect, the trough was then a sarcophagus with living rock on five of its six faces. As before, a flat stone slab would then seal the cubiculum. From the 13th century onwards, and continuing into the Renaissance, arcosolia were built above ground, particularly in the walls of churches. In these post-Roman era recesses, which were built of brick and marble, the sarcophagi are usually separate from the arch. Source: Wikipedia

 

• Death in Sicily
• Arcosolium, Valley of the Temples, Agrigento
• Byzantine tomb-recesses in the wall on Via Pirandello, Taormina

 

 

 

The Valley of Temples in Agrigento is one of the main attractions of Sicily, and a national monument of Italy, included in the UNESCO Heritage Site list in 1997.

 

 

 

 

 

Agrigento - Temple of Hera in the Valley of the Temples.

 

 

Agrigento Timeline

580 BC: Agrigento is founded, possibly on the site of an earlier Sicanian settlement, as a colony of Gela and came to prominence under the tyrants Phalaris and Theron

570–554 B.C.: Tyranny of Phalaris
Phalaris rules as tyrant, infamous for executing enemies in a brazen bull.

554 B.C.: Fall of Phalaris
Phalaris is overthrown; the subsequent form of government is uncertain.

488–473 B.C.: Tyranny of Theron
Theron reigns as tyrant, fostering the city's prosperity.

480 BC: The artificial lake Kolymbetra was dug by Theron's Carthaginian prisoners taken at Himera

472 B.C.: Establishment of Democracy
A democratic government replaces tyranny.

415–413 B.C.: Syracuse-Athens Conflict
Agrigento remains neutral during the Peloponnesian War.

406 BC: The Carthaginians capture the city after an eight-month siege and burn the city, marking the beginning of its decline.

340 BC: Agrigento was rebuilt by Timoleon, who defeated the Carthaginians.

289–279 B.C.: Rule of Phintias
Tyrant Phintias restores some of the city's former power.

261 B.C.: Roman Sack (First Punic War)
Romans sack Agrigento during the First Punic War.

255 BC: Carthaginians recapture the city

218-201 BC Agrigento suffered badly during the Second Punic War when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it.

210 BC: The Romans take the city again, this time Agrigentum remained in their possession until the fall of the empire. Agrigentum remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries after the Roman conquest.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city successively passed into the hands of the Vandalic Kingdom, the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and then the Byzantine Empire. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved to the former acropolis, at the top of the hill (this was probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens).

Late 6th century: The Temple of Concord is converted into a church by the bishop of Agrigento, San Gregorio delle Rape (St Gregory of the Turnips)

828 AD: The Arabs take the city and make the trade flourish by cultivating cotton, sugar-cane and mulberries for the silk industry (they even had to make a new harbour, at Porto Empedocles)

1087: The Normans take Agrigento after a 116 days siege

By the end of the 18th century
The Agrigentans has to import wheat

1817–1847
Agrigento lost half of the nearby forest, which negatively affected the infiltration and retention of water, and caused further erosion of slopes.

1867
Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) is born.

1885: The author Guy de Maupassant travels in Italy, Sicily included. After returning to Paris, Maupassant began publishing his Sicilian travel memoirs in installments in Le Figaro and Gil Blas

1927: Mussolini orders that the city should be called Agrigento, not Girgenti

1936: Luigi Pirandello dies

Sources: Wikipedia, The Blue Guide Sicily and various other sources

 

 

 

 

The Greek Temples in the Valley of Temples

• Temple of Hera (latin: Juno Lacinia)
  This temple is erroneously identified as being dedicated to Hera (Juno Lacinia)
• Temple of Concord
  This is the second-best-preserved of ALL the Greek temples (after the Temple of Hephaistos in Athens). The name Concord occurs in a Latin inscription found here, but the temple has not been attributed to any particular divinity. The excellent state of preservation is explained by the fact that it was converted into a church by the bishop of Agrigento, St Gregory of the Turnips (San Gregorio delle Rape) in the 6th century.
• Temple of Herakles (Hercules) - built c. 500 BC.
  The Temple of Herakles is probably the oldest temple of Akragas. The attribution of this temple to Herakles is due to a reference in Cicero's Verrine Orations (II.4.43), but it is nevertheless not certain that this is correct. In ancient times it was famed the cult statue.
• Temple of Olympean Zeus (Jupiter)
• Temple of Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux)
• Temple of Hephaistos (Vulcan)
  
• Temple of Asclepios (Aesculapium)
• Temple of Demeter

More of interest in the Valley of Temples

• Archeological Museum
• Kolymbetra
• Rocky Sanctuary of Demetra
• Fortifications
• Agorà and public buildings
• Ekklesiasterion
• Bouleuterion
• Oratory of Phalarys
• Roman Hellenistic quarter
  

 

 

Agrigento Festival (1957)

 

 

Luigi Pirandello, (1867–1936), Sicily's greatest playwright, novelist, and short-story writer. In 1934 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was born near Agrigento, and was an important innovator in modern drama. The birthplace of Luigi Pirandello is called Chaos, between Agrigento and Porto Empedocles, now a museum. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's film "Kaos" is based on four of Pirandello's short stories.

 

 

 

 

 

Sicilian Sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List

• Agrigento: Archaeological Area of Agrigento (UNESCO)
• Aeolian Islands: Isole Eolie. The group consists of seven islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea) and five small islets (Basiluzzo, Dattilo, Lisca Nera, Bottaro and Lisca Bianca) in the vicinity of Panarea. (UNESCO)
• Caltagirone (UNESCO)
• Catania (UNESCO)
• Cefalù Cathedral
• Militello Val di Catania (UNESCO)
• Modica (UNESCO)
• Monreale Cathedral
• Mount Etna (UNESCO)
• Noto (UNESCO)
• Palermo: Palazzo dei Normanni (The Norman Palace)
• Palermo: Cappella Palatina (The Palatine Chapel in the Norman Palace)
• Palermo: Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti
• Palermo: Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (also known as the Martorana)
• Palermo: Church of San Cataldo
• Palermo: Cathedral of Palermo
• Palermo: The Zisa Palace (La Zisa)
• Palermo: The Cuba Palace (La Cuba)
• Palazzolo Acreide (UNESCO)
• Ragusa (UNESCO)
• Scicli (UNESCO)
• Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica (UNESCO)

 

 

 

Sicily: Some geographical names in Italian, Sicilian, English, Latin, Arabic and Greek

• Agrigento (Sicilian: Girgenti, Ancient Greek: Akragas (Ἀκράγας), Latin: Agrigentum, Arabic: Kirkent or Jirjent)
• Agrigentum, Latin for Agrigento
• Akragas (Ἀκράγας), Ancient Greek for Agrigento
• Àsaru, Sicilian for Assoro
• Assorus, Latin for Assoro
• Assoros, Greek for Assoro
• Baarìa, Sicilian for Bagheria (also the title of a film by Giuseppe Tornatore)
• Balad al-fīl ("the Village (or Country) of the Elephant"), one of the Arabic names for Catania
• Balarm, Arabic for Palermo
• Butirah, Arabic for Butera (one of the largest cities in Arab Sicily)
• Càccamu Sicilian for Caccamo
• Castrogiovanni (until 1926 Enna was known as Castrogiovanni)
• Castrugiuvanni, Sicilian for Enna
• Cefalù (Sicilian: Cifalù, Greek: Κεφαλοίδιον, Diod., Strabo, or Κεφαλοιδὶς, Ptol.; Latin: Cephaloedium, or Cephaloedis)
• Cephaloedium or Cephaloedis, Latin for Cefalù
• Cifalù, Sicilian for Cefalù
• Egesta, Greek for Segesta
• Enna (Sicilian: Castrugiuvanni; Greek: Ἔννα; Latin: Henna and less frequently Haenna). Until 1926 the town was known as Castrogiovanni.
• Gibilmanna: The name 'Gibilmanna' derives from Arabic 'gebel / jebel' (mountain) and 'manna' (edible substance extracted from the manna ash trees).
• Girgenti, Sicilian for Agrigento
• Henna / Haenna, Latin for Enna
• Hyspicae Fundus, Latin for Ispica
• Ispica (Sicilian: Spaccafurnu, Latin: Hyspicae Fundus)
• Jirjent, Arabic for Agrigento (also: Kirkent)
• Kefaloidion or Kefaloidis (Κεφαλοίδιον / Κεφαλοιδὶς), Greek for Cefalù
• Kentoripa, ancient Greek for Centuripe
• Kirkent, Arabic for Agrigento (also: Jirjent)
• Madīnat al-fīl ("the City of the Elephant"), one of the Arabic names for Catania
• Noto (Sicilian: Notu; Latin: Netum)
• Notu, Sicilian for Noto
• Netum, Latin for Noto
• Palermo (Sicilian: Palermu, Latin: Panormus, from Greek: Πάνορμος, Panormos, Arabic: Balarm, Phoenician: Ziz)
• Palermu, Sicilian for Palermo
• Panormos (Πάνορμος), Greek for Palermo
• Panormus, Latin for Palermo (from Greek: Πάνορμος, Panormos)
• Qaṭāniyyah, allegedly from the Arabic word for the "leguminous plants"
• Sarausa, Sicilian for Siracusa
• Selinous, Greek for Selinunte
• Selinus, Latin for Selinunte
• Siggésta, Sicilian for Segesta
• Siracusa (English: Syracuse, Latin: Syracusæ, Ancient Greek: Syrakousai (Συράκουσαι), Medieval Greek: Συρακοῦσαι, Sicilian: Sarausa)
• Spaccafurnu, Sicilian for Ispica
• Syracuse, English for Siracusa
• Syracusæ, Latin for Siracusa
• Syrakousai (Συράκουσαι), Ancient Greek for Siracusa
• Syrakousai (Συρακοῦσαι), Medieval Greek for Siracusa
• Taormina (Sicilian: Taurmina, Greek: Ταυρομένιον Tauromenion, Latin: Tauromenium)
• Taurmina, Sicilian for Taormina
• Tauromenion (Ταυρομένιον), Greek for Taormina
• Tauromenium, Latin for Taormina
• Terranova is the old name for Gela (the fifth largest town in Sicily)
• Ziz, Phoenician for Palermo

 

 

 

To the top of the page