On the day of the dies lustricus, children were given a name: their personal name, which was equivalent to our given name. They were only called by this epithet within the family: outside the family nucleus, the name of the gens was used instead, often accompanied by a cognomen (a nickname)....

The dies lustricus (purification day), for the ancient Romans, was the day when the newborn child was officially welcomed into the family, after having been purified in the rite of lustratio through various instruments that may have been water (aqua lustralisi), olive branches or some plant species....

In memory of Luigi Pirandello, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934, a museum was founded in his birthplace in Caos, on the border between the towns of Agrigento and Porto Empedocle. The works of Pirandello, who grew up in these places, are imbued with intense suggestions and strong fee...

In ancient Rome, the term gens meant several families who had a common origin. The gens were a fundamental institution during the Roman monarchy, when they were made up only of patricians whose power was based on land possession. The first Roman senate was composed only of members of the gentes,...

Until the late 16th century, the valley was in a condition of neglect and oblivion, used for the most part for the cultivation of fields. With the advent of the Grand Tour around 1700, however, a period of rediscovery began of the places that in the past had made Akragas then Agrigentum great. T...

The Girgentana goat is a typical species of goat in the Agrigento area. They can be recognised from other species by their twisted, spiral horns that give them a unique elegance. Thanks to the Park's actions, the endangered animal inhabits these places once more. A small sheepfold near the Temple...

In 480 BC Theron, tyrant of Agrigento, moved against Himera in order to achieve his dream of an outlet on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was thanks to his alliance with Hiero I, tyrant of Syracuse, that he managed to defeat the Carthaginian army. The Greeks of Sicily had a crushing victory in the battle. ...

Loculi, rectangular wall chambers dedicated to a single tomb, and arcosoli, burial chambers embedded in the wall and surmounted by a niche were both dug into the walls of the Fragapane Grotto. In some niches you can still see traces of the wall decorations that adorned the rooms with floral and fes...

The Temple of Concordia takes its name from an ancient Roman inscription found nearby the majestic structure, which although has no relation to a temple, speaks of the consecration of a Sanctuary to Concordia, a Roman mythological figure evocative of community harmony. The temple’s spectacular st...

Published for the first time in 1912 in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the novella Ciàula scopre la luna (Ciàula discovers the moon) is one of the literary examples of the exploitation of small sulphur miners in the Sicilian quarries between the 19th and 20th centuries. The text has links wit...