Agrigento — Valle dei Templi
La Valle dei Templi di Agrigento (UNESCO 1997, rif. 831) è il più grande parco archeologico greco del mondo — 1.300 ettari con 7 templi dori del V secolo BCE costruiti dalla colonia di Akragas, la terza città greca per popolazione nel mondo antico dopo Atene e Siracusa.
At a glance
Agrigento Valle dei Templi Sicilia (the most precisely Agrigento zone Agrigento Sicilia Italy 37.2914 N 13.5889 E UNESCO WHS 1997 reference 831 Archaeological Area of Agrigento: the site (the area: the 1,300 ha of protected archaeological land (the “Valle dei Templi”: the name is a misnomer: it is not a valley but a ridge (the “Rupe Atenea”: the rocky ridge at 200–240 m altitude, 3 km south of the modern city of Agrigento) running east-west above the sea; the temples are all on the south rim of the ridge facing the sea, 4 km from the coast); the temples (the 7 temples in the Valle dei Templi: (1) the Tempio della Concordia (c.440 BCE: the best-preserved Greek temple in the world outside Athens; the dimensions: 6 × 13 columns; 39.4 m × 16.9 m stylobate; the preservation reason: the temple was converted into a Christian church in 597 CE by Bishop Gregorius of Agrigento (Gregorius Agrigentinus); the bishop: (a) filled in the intercolumnar spaces with walls (to make a weatherproof interior); (b) cut 8 doorways through the cella walls; (c) reversed the orientation (the Greek temple faced east; the Christian church faced west); these modifications, while damaging in some senses, provided structural support for the outer colonnade through 1,600 years of earthquakes); (2) the Tempio di Giunone (c.450 BCE: the easternmost temple; the columns: 6 × 13; 38.2 m × 15.5 m; the fire damage visible on the east side of the colonnade: the reddening of the limestone from the Carthaginian burning of Akragas (c.406 BCE)); (3) the Tempio di Ercole (c.510 BCE: the oldest temple in the valley; originally 6 × 15 columns; only 9 columns re-erected (by the English archaeologist Alexander Hardcastle in 1924 CE)); (4) the Tempio di Zeus Olimpio (c.480 BCE: the largest Greek temple ever begun, if completed (the dimensions as designed: 110 m × 56 m × 20 m height; a temple this size was never actually used for worship because it was never completed: the construction stopped when Carthage sacked Akragas in 406 BCE; the engineering innovation: the outer wall between the columns was filled with engaged semi-columns (the “pseudo-peripteral” plan) supporting Atlantes (the telamones: giant human figures 7.7 m tall used as decorative load-bearers in the intercolumnar spaces; each telamon weighs approximately 35 tonnes; 1 surviving telamon lying in fragments in the museum; a 2002 CE reconstruction of a telamon is lying in the archaeological field next to the temple ruins))); (5) the Tempio dei Dioscuri (c.480 BCE: 4 columns standing (reconstructed in 1836 CE using mismatched pieces from 3 different buildings); the most photographed symbol of Agrigento despite being partly inauthentic); (6) the Tempio di Efesto (c.430 BCE; the most ruined); (7) the Tempio di Vulcano (c.430 BCE; on the western ridge).
Key facts
- Il Tempio di Zeus Olimpio (c.480 BCE): perché era il più grande tempio greco mai progettato e perché non fu mai completato, e cosa sono i Telamoni di 7,7 metri: the Temple of Zeus Olympios (the design: the most ambitious building project in ancient Greek architecture: planned dimensions 110.1 m × 56.3 m (the Parthenon: 69.5 m × 30.9 m for comparison; the Zeus temple = 2.6× the footprint of the Parthenon); the height (designed): approximately 20 m to the cornice + 12 m for the pediment = 32 m total (the Parthenon: 13.7 m to the cornice; the Zeus temple was designed to be 2.3× taller than the Parthenon); the Atlantes/Telamones (the telamones: the 7.7 m giant male figures designed to support the upper architrave between the engaged outer columns: each telamon (the design: a standing male figure with arms raised above the head forming a “Y” shape; the upper half of the body supports the architrave load; the lower half is decorated as a male figure in short dress); the material: soft Akragas limestone (not marble); the number designed: 38 telamones total (1 telamon per intercolumnar space on the long sides: 13 columns on each long side = 12 spaces × 2 = 24; + 6 spaces on each short side × 2 = 12; however the exact count is debated; the Museo Regionale displays 1 surviving telamon in fragments and a full reconstruction); the unfinished reason: Carthage sacked and razed Akragas in December 406 BCE while the temple was still under construction; the construction was abandoned; the ruins were used as a stone quarry for the medieval town of Agrigento (the Porto Empedocle jetty in the harbor is built largely of limestone blocks from the Zeus temple)
- GPS (Tempio della Concordia, centro parco Valle dei Templi): 37.2914° N, 13.5889° E; Tempio di Giunone: 37.2924° N, 13.5942° E
History
Da Akragas 580 BCE al UNESCO 1997 (the most precisely Agrigento zone history: the foundation (Akragas: the foundation year (the ancient sources on the foundation of Akragas: (1) Thucydides: “Akragas was founded by Geloan colonists 108 years after the foundation of Gela” (Gela: founded 688 BCE; 688–108 = 580 BCE); (2) Diodorus Siculus: “the Geloans founded Akragas in the 50th Olympiad” (the 50th Olympiad = 580–576 BCE); the founding population: 4,000 settlers from Gela (itself a colony of Rhodes and Crete) + additional colonists from Rhodes directly); the peak (the 5th century BCE: the golden century of Akragas (the population: the largest city in the Greek world after Athens and Syracuse: ancient sources suggest 200,000–800,000 inhabitants (these figures are almost certainly exaggerated; modern archaeological estimates suggest 30,000–100,000 as more realistic); the olive oil wealth: Akragas exported olive oil to Carthage and Egypt; the “land of olives”: the Agrigento hinterland remains the largest producer of olive oil in Sicily (1.5 million olive trees at the 2021 CE agricultural census))); the destruction (Carthage destroyed Akragas 406 BCE: the historian Diodorus Siculus describes the sack of Akragas in 406 BCE as the most complete destruction of a Greek city since the Persian burning of Athens in 480 BCE: the entire population was enslaved or fled; the city was looted of all its treasures (including the bronze bull of Phalaris (the torture device built by the tyrant Phalaris (570–554 BCE): a hollow bronze bull into which condemned criminals were placed while the bull was heated on a fire below; the screams were designed to emerge as the sound of a bellowing bull; taken to Carthage as a trophy; returned to Sicily after the Roman conquest))); the UNESCO inscription (1997 CE: reference 831).
What you see
Tempio Concordia, Tempio Giunone, Zeus Olimpio Telamoni, Museo Griffo (the most precisely Agrigento zone visit (1 full day for the full valley): the ticket (€14 (park + museum); €8 (park only); free 18-; open daily 9:00–19:00 (summer until 21:00); the visit sequence (the recommended sequence: (1) start at the Museo Regionale Archeologico Pietro Griffo (9:00–10:30: the museum overview (the Telamon reconstruction (2002 CE): a 7.7 m reconstruction of one of the Zeus temple giants in the courtyard; the original fragments in Room 6; the Ephebus of Agrigento (c.480 BCE: the most beautiful kouroi from Greek Sicily: the Museo shows the Agrigento “Kouros” standing 1.1 m tall in white marble, found 1928 CE during road construction); the child sarcophagi (the Phoenician sarcophagi from the Heracleia necropolis (4th c. BCE): the children depicted in painted terracotta relief)); (2) walk east along the ridge (the Via Sacra: the path along the south rim connecting the 7 temples): Tempio di Ercole (10:30; the 9 re-erected columns; the pillar capitals at eye level) → Tempio della Concordia (11:00; the best-preserved; walk the full circuit of the colonnade; enter the interior (the nave of the Christian conversion is still visible inside: the raised altar platform; the arched doorways cut through the cella walls); the light: the Concordia temple faces east so the morning light (8:00–10:00) fills the colonnade); (3) Tempio di Giunone (12:00; the easternmost and highest; the best aerial view over the valley); (4) back west: Zeus Olimpio (14:00; the lying telamon reconstruction; the scale of the footprint only visible from standing at the center); (5) Tempio dei Dioscuri (15:00; the 4 reconstructed columns; the famous photography angle from the southwest); (6) Giardino della Kolymbethra (15:30; the irrigation garden in the “Kolymbethra” (the ancient Akragas water cistern converted to an orchard): €3 separate; FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano managed; orange+almond+olive trees).
Practical information
- Come raggiungere la Valle dei Templi da Palermo e Catania e perché l’ingresso dal lato est (dalla zona Giunone) è meglio di quello ovest dal parcheggio principale: il trasporto (Palermo Centrale → Agrigento Centrale: Trenitalia (2h30; €11.50; ogni 2h; ferrovia panoramica via Palermo Sud-Lercara Friddi)); Catania Centrale → Agrigento Centrale: Trenitalia + Ferrovia Circumetnea (cambio a Caltanissetta; 3h; €14; verificare orari perché questa linea ha servizio ridotto il sabato-domenica); stazione Agrigento Centrale → Valle dei Templi: autobus TUA linea 2 (10 min; €1.20; ogni 40 min); taxi (€8; sempre disponibile in stazione); la strategia della visita (l’ingresso est: dalla fermata bus “Valle dei Templi” (lato Tempio di Giunone): il percorso da est a ovest (in discesa): Giunone → Concordia → Ercole → Zeus → Dioscuri; il percorso in discesa è più facile (il dislivello totale est-ovest è 40 m)); il periodo migliore (febbraio-marzo: la mandorla in fiore (i circa 40.000 mandorli della Valle dei Templi fioriscono tra il 5-25 febbraio: la neve bianca dei fiori di mandorlo sullo sfondo delle colonne dorate dei templi è il simbolo della “Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore” (la prima settimana di marzo)); il caldo (luglio-agosto: temperature 35–40°C all’interno della Valle; visitare prima delle 10:00 o dopo le 18:00))
Getting there
Trenitalia da Palermo (2h30, €11.50) o Catania (3h, €14). Bus TUA linea 2 dalla stazione (10 min, €1.20). GPS Tempio Concordia: 37.2914/13.5889. €14 (parco+museo). 9:00–19:00 (estate 21:00).
Nearby
- Villa Romana del Casale Piazza Armerina (UNESCO 1997 rif. 832 — mosaici romani IV sec. CE; “bikini girls”) — 75 km (auto 1h15; nessun collegamento diretto bus; da Enna in taxi €35; la Villa del Casale con 3.500m² di mosaici, il Corridoio Grande Caccia 60m, la Sala delle 10 Fanciulle)
- Selinunte (parco archeologico; V-VI sec. BCE; più antico di Akragas) — 95 km (auto 1h30; parco €7; il Tempio E (ricostruito con anastilosi 1958 CE: l’unico tempio dorico siciliano intero dopo la Concordia); la necropoli; la cava di Cusa)
Gallery
Sources
- Wikipedia, Valley of the Temples; Temple of Concordia, Agrigento; Temple of Zeus, Agrigento; Akragas, accessed June 2026
- UNESCO, Archaeological Area of Agrigento, WHS reference 831, inscribed 1997
- Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca Historica, Book XIII (primary source on the 406 BCE destruction of Akragas)
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