Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

We were based in Catania, Sicily and drove 2 hours to Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The countryside was lovely. 

This photo of Mount Etna was taken from a moving vehicle.  This highly active volcano is almost 12,000 feet high.  It's base circumference is 140 kilometers.  It is Europe's highest Volcano and one of the world's most active.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its last eruption was June 2nd 2025.  Mount Etna creates its own weather pattern above it.  The warm emissions of the gas and heat emitted by the Volcano produce warm currents and their own clouds.  We were hopeful though that we would see Etna on a clear day.  Etna dominates the skyline and is Omnipresent in the Catania area.

You can see this side of the Volcano had a massive lava flow.  It currently has hundreds of side vents.

Many rock outcroppings on the drive and many had towns or castles on the top.

We stopped to use the washroom at a gas/coffee stop and I bought a Marochinno Cafe in a tiny cup. It was not much different tasting than an espresso.

We arrived at the site and found parking for 4€.  Tickets were 17€ to enter and I picked up an Audio for 5€ which was not necessary as they had many posters to read at every key area. The site is spread out over 2.4 kms.  There is a ton of walking but I like that.  

Underground cistern which was found recently and this was built for the Valley of the Temples.

Walking through the original gate area of the Valley of the Temples.

The first temple

The massive blocks of sandstone which
 were the base of the Temples

Surrounding sandstone landscape that has had caves dug into it.

Surrounding landscape of Olive Trees which could have been alive during the age of the Temples because Olive Trees can live up to 4000 years.

A great contrast of the Temple blocks juxtaposition up to the modern city of Agrigento behind it.

Two different types of sandstone used on this wall

Sicily does not have any marble like mainland Italy so the Valley of the Temples is made out of sandstone.  These temples are not as flashy as other Greek Temples but they are still quite cool to check out.

Much of it is fallen down but you can still pick out the pillars and blocks etc.

Base of Temple of Zeus.

This base of the Temple was built
as an altar to sacrifice up to 100 animals at a time
The blood ran out onto the earth to increase 
fertility of the soil.

UNESCO Status Poster.

Placard map of the site.

You can see and pick out an ancient wall, pillars etc.

Surrounding countryside and the Sea in the distance.

I still could not figure out what this was?

There were 8 Temples most were ruins. The temples were built in the years 510-430 BCE built by the Greeks who settled Sicily before the Romans did.

This is a Telamon that fell down face down.  This was the first time I have ever seen a Telamon and learned that they existed.

This is a half original Telamon put back together with missing casted parts.  The roof of the Temple sat on 48 of these large rock human figures which acted as pillars.  Everyone was unique.

These posters explain Telamons which is very interesting.

This is a diagram of what it would have looked like.

Temple of Concordia is one of the most intact Greek Temples in the World. The reason it has stood the test of time is a Catholic Priest wanted the Temple destroyed but he decided to consecrate the Pagan Temple instead and turn it into a church in the 6th Century, which helped to preserve it.

A bronze Icarus lies down in front of the Temple of Concordia.

I am standing behind the downed column to show perspective on how large these things were.

This Olive Tree in front of the Temple of Concordia may have been alive to see the Temple being built.

I took this photo from the last temple that I visited.

30,000 slaves built the Temples, there was a considerable amount of skill involved in carving the Telamons and there were 48 of them holding up the roof of the Temple of Zeus.  It must have been quite impressive.

It was a very interesting place and well worth the drive.

Villa owned by a retired Military man that built his Villa in-between two of the Temples.  He later donated money for excavation of other temples.

You can see seashells in the sandstone blocks.

These are a special breed of goats endemic to Sicily.  They have amazingly ugly horns.

The countryside is gorgeous.

Some of the large megalithic sandstone blocks that are very weathered.

The 2 kilometer wall that was built to surround the Temples.

Surrounding countryside.

The last temple in the Valley

More gorgeous countryside of Agrigento, Sicily

Me giving poor Icarus some coverage.

One of my favorite photos.
The face of Icarus.

The Sea.

After the Valley of the Temples we drove up to the Medieval village of Agrigento and parked and walked up numerous flights of stairs to the top of the Cathedral.

The town of Agrigento.

Stairs are indicative of
Medieval
hill towns.

Agrigento was slightly disappointing
as it was quite run-down and many buildings were abandoned and 
falling down.

There are many pretty features still.

The surrounding countryside was breathtaking. We walked back down and let our noses guide us to the bakery where we purchased some decent snacks.

The Cathedral at the top of the Medieval Hill top town.

Unusual bricked up windows of the Cathedral but they were highly decorative which was strange.

The countryside.

The area is very pretty. This is the view 
from the church.

The Cathedral.

Inside the church.  I loved the old wood ceiling.

Old stairway up to another lane.

Darren walking down towards the car.

This building would fall down without these supports.

The drive back was long but we had Pasta on our minds to hasten the drive back. The pasta turned out to be a bust but we were super hungry at this point. It was a very Americanized pasta joint but it had excellent ambiance and we loved the waitress and had some good laughs with her.

Beautiful sunset set the sky ablaze with pinks.

The restaurant had very good ambiance.