The Tempio dei Dioscuri (Temple of Castor and Pollux) was located in the second terrace of the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities. It was built in Doric style in the 5th century BC as requested by the tyrant Theron, but over the years neglect and adverse weather have reduced it to a pile of rubble. ...

For Asclepius, many animals were sacred, and helped his priests and priestesses to heal the sick. The serpent was the most important since small doses of its venom could be used as a drug. Then there were dogs and geese, because their saliva helped to heal wounds. Finally, the rooster: the animal...

Every year in July in Agrigento the Feast of San Calogero is celebrated. It is said that the monk Calogerus came to Sicily to spread the Christian faith and that during a period of plague, he walked the streets to ask for bread for the poor. Fearful that he would get too close to their houses, cit...

According to the ancient Greeks, the kingdom of the underworld was where the souls of the dead resided. The kingdom was usually located underground and to get there souls had to cross the river Acheron on a boat ferried by the ancient Charon. To pay for the journey, an obolus, a coin of little va...

The almond tree is a very long-lived and widespread tree in the Mediterranean Basin. It can reach a height of 10 metres and is usually easy to recognise in a garden. Its splendid flowering of pinkish-white shoots, which in Agrigento starts as early as January, makes it one of the garden's most bea...

The Agrigento Warrior is a wonderful example of Greek sculpture, whose style is defined as "severe" due to the rigidity of expression and movement of the statue compared to the following classical period. The work, created around 480-475 BC, was found in the 1940s with the torso lying near the Temp...

The Italian Environment Fund (Fondo Ambiente Italiano – FAI) is a 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, the founda...

Iron is one of the most widespread and abundant metals on Earth. It is usually found bound to other chemical elements such as carbon or nickel, and very rarely found in its pure state; the small amounts of pure iron on our planet are probably of extra-terrestrial origin, brought here by meteorites. ...

The wealth of the inhabitants of Agrigento was known throughout Sicily. History offers us some anecdotes about a rich and well known Akragantine character named Gellia who, in her wine cellars, had three hundred barrels dug directly into the rock, each of which could contain as many as one hundred...

In recent years, the grounds of the park have been salvaged and developed by the Valley of the Temples Archaeological Park. In the plain below the Temple of Hera Lacinia there are vineyards of particular interest, selected over the years by local growers.These luxuriant vines produce the red wine ...