Archaeological Area of Agrigento

Agrigento is a province capital on the southern coast of Sicily and was once the site of Akragas, one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece. The bustling town became a democracy once the tyrant Thron's son, Thrasydaeus, was deposed, although it remained locked in conflict and was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. Falling into Roman hands, the city was renamed Agrigentum, although its citizens were still predominantly Greek. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city fell under the control of the Ostrogoths and then the Byzantine Empire, during which time large parts of it were abandoned and left to decay. 

Despite suffering a great deal of destruction during the second world war, Ancient Akragas retains many fascinating traces of its ancient past. Much is still unexplored, but famous sites include the Valley of the Temples, a large sacred area where seven Doric temples once stood, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC. These have been partially restored and are some of the best preserved examples of their type outside Greece. Also worth seeing is the pre-Hellenic cave sanctuary, the late Hellenistic funerary monument and the heroon (shrine to the heroes), which dates from the first century AD.

 

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