Welcome to
Agrigento
from Jesse's Journeys in Italy
Population: 59.031 (2004)
Official site:
Agrigento
Wikipedia:
Agrigento
Map:
MapQuest
The city of Agrigento was
founded by the Greeks around 580
BC on a plateau overlooking the
Mediterranean Sea,
between two rivers, the
Hypsas and the Akragas.
The rivers and seaside cliffs
offered the city natural
fortifications, and over time
the city grew to become one of
the most important and
wealthiest cities - know to them
as Akragas - of "Magna
Graecia"...Greater Greece.
The city's status went into
decline when it was sacked by
the
Carthaginians in 406 BC.
It was not the last time, the
Romans and Carthaginians
each overran Agrigento again a
couple of times, until the
Romans established their
dominance in about 210 BC.
After the death of
Julius Caesar in 44 BC, the
city was made a Roman
municipium whose citizens,
still by and large Greek,
enjoyed full Roman citizenship.
After the fall of Rome, the fate
of Agrigento follows that of the
rest of Sicily, falling into
Byzantine
hands after the decline of Rome,
then under
Norman
rule. The history of
Sicily, and therefore Agrigento,
thereafter becomes vastly more
complicated as Sicily finds
itself variously and
intermittently under the thumb
of the Spanish and French
empires.
During the
Risorgimento,
the people of the city
enthusiastically supported
Garibaldi's
invasion of Sicily in 1860,
which very quickly resulted in
the
Unification of Italy
under
King Victor Emanuele
soon after.
The landscape of the plateau
consists of two broad ridges,
the uppermost of which is the
site of the "modern" city and
the lower of which is the site
of the misnamed Valley of the
Temples where Greek
architects and builders created
an amazing complex of sacred
buildings, which in 1996 was
declared to be a world heritage
site by
UNESCO.
|
For more detailed
information about
the Valley of the
Temples:
Click here |
The presence of this
extraordinary archaeological
site accounts for the fact that
the principal industry of
Agrigento today is tourism.
However, the economy is also
supported by the mining of
sulphur and potash - which has
gone on since Roman times - and
by a variety of other small
industries. Alas, the city
is also a haven of Mafia
activity, who are actively
involved in drug smuggling and
other illicit activities.
Tourists need not worry over
much about the Mafia and a tour
into the old, medieval heart of
Agrigento, with its narrow,
stepped streets is heartily
recommended. Follow the
main street, Via Atenea,
which starts on the eastern edge
of town above the train station
running west from Piazza Aldo
Moro, one of the three
interlocking piazzas (Piazza
Marconi and Piazza Victor
Emanuele II are the others)
where locals and tourists rub
shoulders together.
As you cross Via Atenea, venture
down the avenues on your right,
taking in the dilapidated old
palazzi, and finally the
handsome church of Santa
Maria dei Greci. The
church was built on the ruins of
a Greek temple, remnant columns
of which are visible in the
nave. Be sure to go below
ground to see the foundations.
The city's archaeological museum
is worth a slow visit, if you
are so inclined, because of
course, its displays consist of
artifacts ranging over many
centuries back to Agrigento's
founding days.
At night, the Valley of the
Temples is floodlit, making for
a spectacular site from the
heights of the city.
by Vian Andrews, November 8,
2005 |
