Valli dei Templi, Agrigento
For our second Sicilian day trip, we traveled to Agrigento on the southern coast of the island. Near the modern city lies the Valley of the Temples, ruins of seven Doric temples that were built around the 6th and 5th century BC in the ancient city of Akgras. The temples' location is now a beautiful, well maintained park that was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.
We had another cool but sunny day to explore the park which was perfect because we walked almost two miles to view the temples throughout the valley. Although it was the most deconstructed temple, the Temple of Zeus was our favorite because we were so impressed by the massive size of its foundational footprint. According to scholars, it was the largest Doric temple ever built and featured 7.5 m high Atlases alternating with columns across its facade. We were able to see the fragments of two of the gigantic statues amongst the ruins and a third is assembled and on display in a nearby archaeological museum.
Temple of Juno (Hera)
Catacombs
Matt and Christopher stand at the edge of the ridge overlooking the southern Sicilian countryside.
Temple of Concordia
Temple of Herakles
Pieced together statue of Atlas at the site of the Temple of Zeus. Try to imagine a man laying down with his elbows bent up by his head.
Temple of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) with the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone in the background.
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