|
Agrigento
129km (80 miles) S of Palermo, 175km
(109 miles) SE of Trapani, 217km
(135 miles) W of Syracuse.
The Greeks were the first colonists to settle in the area
surrounding the city of Agrigento,
as it is now known, and they
arrived in the sixth century
BC.They came from Gela and the
region was then called Akragas.
The Greeks prospered here under
the rule of Phalaris, a cruel
despot, who reigned from 571BC to
555 BC. The “Valley of
Temples” near the city is a
sight that one is not likely to
forget , it remains a true memory
of the ancient world. Phalaris met
a gory end, he was roasted in a
brass bull which was a treatment
he had meted out to his own
victims.
The city has has some famous sons – the Greek philosopher
and politician Empedocles from the
fourth century BC and, more
recently, Luigi Pirandello [1867
– 1936], a playwright who won
the Nobel prize for literature in
1934. Emperocles theorized on the
composition of matter and is also
considered, by some, to be the
founder of the practice of
medicine in Italy.
The city was attacked by Cartha in 406 BC and in the third
century BC the Romans took over
from the Carthagenians. The Romans
took over full dominion of the
region in the year 210 BC. They
named the city Agrigentium. The
city now stands on the side of a
hill, and its streets show a
distinct Saracen influence. There
are many cement factories around
the city and these form a blot on
the landscape, as do most of the
buildings that were built after
the destruction caused by the
bombing during the second world
war.
The best sighte of the city are actually below it, where the
“Valle dei Templi” or the
“Valley of Temples” is
situated, and this site is one of
the greatest of Greek ruins in the
world. Besides the temples a visit
to the Centro Storico should be of
interest to the tourist. It has
boutiques with postcards and
T-shirts, and also a café where
you can enjoy the coffee and the
scenery. If it gets too hot, as it
certainly will, go to the beach at
nearby San Leone.
|
