The most beautiful city of mortals
Nestled in a picturesque landscape dotted with centuries-old olive trees and white almond trees, Agrigento, the ancient Akragas, is famous for the Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples, one of the world’s most impressive ancient treasures.
“The most beautiful city of mortals, as Greek poet Pindar called it, boasts a cobbled path through the ruins of a glorious past, stretching from the Columns of the Temple of Hercules to the Temple of Juno, passing by the Temple of Concord.
The largest temple of Magna Graecia
A few steps from the best-preserved ruins are the remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This majestic sacred structure was considered the largest temple in the whole of Magna Grecia. Unfortunately, today it is possible to see only a part of the building since it was razed to the ground by a devastating earthquake in 1401 and despoiled over the centuries to other more modern structures alongside the ancient Greek area.
The telamons, bones of a giant ancient skeleton.
Similar to the bones of a gigantic skeleton – as Goethe described during one of his countless trips to his beloved Italy – the sacred area has in recent years yielded enormous telamons, the stone giants that served as supporting columns and that can now be seen at the foot of the temple remains.
1997: the Valley of Temples, a World Heritage Site
The Archaeological Park in the Valley of Temples, a rare treasure that enchants visitors both for the magnificent ancient ruins and the amazing artistic context, was included in 1997 by UNESCO in the list of World Heritage Sites. The entire area still tells the city’s thousand-year history going back to the 6th century B.C., when colonists from Rhodes and Crete, after Gela, decided to found ‘Akragas’, after the river of the same name that washes the territory.
From Pirandello to Norman art, the wonders of Girgenti
Not only Hellenic archaeology. The modern city of Agrigento, developed from the ancient Girgenti, also offers treasures of inestimable value. The historical centre of Agrigento is worth a visit to see the metropolitan cathedral of San Gerlando, a precious medieval architectural testimony of the Norman era. Then there is the birthplace of Luigi Pirandello, who was born in ancient Girgenti. Here he began his journey to Italian literature.