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After violent thunderstorms, which struck Sicily and Messina in particular (northern Sicily - 01/10/2009), I took advantage of good weather to travel near Agrigento, where you can find the Valley of the Temples (Valle Dei Templi). Despite some clouds in the photos, my trip to the South was fairly sunny, which was ideal for visiting outdoor monuments. On this page, you'll see photos taken during my day trip in the South of Sicily... If you prefer to visit the East of Sicily, please click here. If it's the centre you're interested in, please click here. |
| 1. Admire the town of Agrigento... Because of the size of the archaeological site, I couldn't find time to visit the town of Agrigento. However, here is a photo of the town, as seen from a field of olive trees. Let's be poetic! |
| 2. Admire a panoramic view from the temples... Even with a lot of grey clouds, I think the area surrounding the Valley of the Temples is magnificent (see photo). |
| 3. Do some labours in the Temple of Heracles... When you enter the archaeological site, the Temple of Heracles (or its remains) will be the first monument you will see. What's striking is the great ochre colour of the building. This comes from the fact that the Greeks have used local natural stones, which you can find around the site. |
| 4. Admire the Temple of Concordia... This is one of the best-preserved Greek temples of Sicily, because it was used as a Church in the 6th century. |
 Photo 4. Temple of Concordia. |
| 5. Admire the Temple of Hera Lacinia (Juno)... Close to the Temple of Concordia, you can find the Temple of Hera Lacinia, which celebrates matrimony and childbirth. The temple was built in the 5th century BC, destroyed in a fire during a Carthaginian invasion and partially restored at the end of the 17th century. |
| 6. Visit the Greco-Roman quarter... After a bit of walking in the middle of cactus fields and olive orchards, you arrive in the Greco-Roman quarter. This one contains the remains of old houses, some of which still have mosaic on their floors. Perhaps because of the time or bad sign posting, the place was totally deserted. |
| 7. Visit the Museo archeologico regionale... Near the Greco-Roman quarter, you can visit the Agrigento archaeological museum. Curiously, going under barbed wire was the only solution I found to leave the Valley of the Temples and to enter the museum premises (see photo). The museum has a collection of vases and other archaeological finds. |
| 8. Observe the Temple of Castor and Pollux... Also called Temple of the Dioscuri, those four columns are the actual symbol of Agrigento. At the start, the temple was dedicated to Leda and Zeus' twins. In the foreground, you can see remains where a lot of piglets were sacrificed. |
| 9. Stop front of the Tomba di Terone...The Tomba di Terone is a monument which you can find outside the archaeological site and which is visible from the road to Caltagirone. It was built to honour the soldiers killed during the second Punic war. |
| The South of Sicily in pictures | ||
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 Photo 2. Panoramic view from the Valley of the Temples. |
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 Photo 3. Temple of Heracles. |
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 Photo 5. Temple of Hera Lacinia. |
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 Photo 6. Greco-Roman quarter. |
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 Photo 7. Museo archeologico regionale. |
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 Photo 8. The Temple of Castor and Pollux. |
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 Photo 9. Tomba di Terone. |
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