Agrigento – Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples
The Greek world has left on the Hill of Temples one of the most impressive architectural complexes of antiquity, a labyrinth of precious ancient memories that testify to the cultural and civil grandeur of the colony of Akràgas in the Greek and Punic Age (VI-III century BC). In the wide valley which stretches down to the sea, since 1998 recognized as a World Heritage by UNESCO, you can admire the grandeur of the Doric temples, pass through the center of civil life on the hill of S. Nicola, where is also the Regional Archaeological Museum, until you get to the remains of the residences and fortification systems at the foot of the Atenea Rupe. And yet to discover that in ancient Akràgas the importance of the cult of chthonic deities (of the earth), Demeter and Kore, namely Ceres and Persephone according to the Latin name, It is remembered not only by the sources, but also by the presence of numerous dedicated areas both inside and outside of the walls. An urban sanctuary has been identified on the Poggetto di San Nicola. Another complex, at the Atenea Rupe, includes the rock sanctuary of San Biagio, the Temple of Demetra and a sacred area. Outside the walls there are two other sanctuaries: the first one along the River Sant’Anna (ancient Hypsas), the second at the mouth of the River Naro.
Then the face of the city that will be baptized Agrigentum by the Romans turns from the late Hellenistic age until the Roman Empire (III century BC – IV century AD), enriched with majestic buildings that recall the architecture of the Italian peninsula and Eastern Mediterranean. The heart of the new settlement lies in the area between the forum, the gymnasium and the Hellenistic-Roman quarter, which houses the remains of luxurious homes with precious mosaic floors.
Finally, the spread of Christianity deeply changes the city’s structure, with the transformation of temples into Christian basilicas and with the development of extensive cemeteries within urban spaces: an itinerary that allows you to discover a period often hidden in the depths of the subsoil or to search carefully in the structures of previous ages, which are being restored.