The Temple of Hera Lacinia rises on the highest rocky spur of the Hill of the Temples, with the façade facing east. The temple, like others in the city, is of Doric order and can be dated to around 450-440 BC. The structure has an imposing basement of four steps. Of the thirty-four columns still ...

In the Garden of Kolymbetra, in addition to the citrus fruits that sweeten the surroundings with their scent, there are thousand-year-old olive trees. These evergreen plants belong to the Oleaceae family and are particularly good at standing the test of time. They even have the ability to regenera...

The citrus grove of the Kolymbetra Garden is home to 600 trees of varying types including sweet oranges, bitter oranges, lemons, tangerines and clementines. Each species has ancient varieties with a timeless taste, such as the juicy and sour blood orange, the yellow-orange colouring and typical r...

Soi bioengineering is a new discipline in the wider field of general engineering whose techniques involve the use of natural materials such as wood, earth or stone in combination with living materials such as plants or parts of plants....

The Italian Environment Fund (Fondo Ambiente Italiano – FAI) is a non-profit foundation that, since its creation in 1975, has protected and developed Italian historical, artistic and landscape heritage. Through the organisation of initiatives and events such as the FAI Days in spring and autumn,...

In 480 BC Theron, tyrant of Agrigento, moved against Himera in order to achieve his dream of an outlet on the Tyrrhenian Sea. However, the city, located near present-day Termini Imerese, was also coveted by the Carthaginians, with whom Theron fought. The Greeks of Sicily had a crushing victory in...

In 2003, the UNESCO General Conference signed the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to encourage, in the age of globalisation, mutual understanding and respect for different ways of life. Intangible Cultural Heritage includes traditions, oral expressions, performin...

The Almond Blossom Festival is a popular festival in the Valley of the Temples that celebrates the early arrival of spring in the first week of February, when the almond trees begin to bloom candidly. There are two fundamental moments of this festival: the lighting of the fiaccola dell’amicizia...

The word kolymbetra, of Greek origin, means pool. In ancient Akragas, the term indicated the immense pool full of colourful fish that the tyrant Theron had built in the Vallone della Badia Bassa (Valley of the Low Abbey), where the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities still stands today. ...

Gladiators were athletes who in ancient Rome fought with a small sword (the gladius, hence their name) for the amusement of crowds. The gladiator shows first spread among private individuals, meeting with increasing success, and in 105 BC became public shows much appreciated by the masses during t...