AGRIGENTO AND SURROUNDINGS
The historic center
The historic center of the city of Agrigento, although it is rich in historical monuments, palaces that speak of past times, today appears left to itself, degraded, as if it were a third world country. However, walking through its streets you can admire the many places of historical and artistic interest of the place.
Churches
There are many religious buildings that are located within this Sicilian city: from the church of Our Lady of Sorrows, famous for its undergrounds where the crypts of the Sorrowful to the church of San Francesco di Paola are located, with its two bell towers ; from the baroque church of San Giuseppe, with two bell towers and a single nave inside the equally baroque church of San Domenico. And again, the 16th century Church of Itria, where the Greek-Albanian rite was celebrated; the church of Purgatory or San Lorenzo, in Baroque style, with its many stature, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception with inside it some marble tombs of ecclesiastics and nobles; the Church of San Nicola which houses the wooden crucifix mentioned in the novel by Pirandello, Il Signore della Nave. Do not forget the Duomo, now known as the Cathedral of San Geraldo, patron of the city: it is a construction built starting from 1100, whose construction lasted over 200 years, do not miss the bell tower with Gothic and Catalan motifs and the Arab-Norman balcony. But these are just a few basilicas and churches, in the incredible sea magnum of religious buildings that the city of Agrigento presents: in addition to admiring its architecture, it is worth visiting the valuable religious artistic heritage preserved within each of these.
Palaces and civil buildings
Besides the religious greenery there is also the civil part of the city characterized by interesting buildings and buildings. It goes from the Town Hall, which stands on the ruins of an ancient 17th century Dominican monastery, to the Palazzo della Provincia and the Prefecture of the second half of the nineteenth century from the Palazzo delle Poste of the Fascist era and its circular form to the Palazzo del Genio Civile. And again the Palazzo Ex Archivio Notarile, now home to the library, the Palazzo della Questura in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, the majestic Palazzo of the Bank of Italy and that of the Central Station, of neoclassical style. To these palaces is added the Pirandello theater (once dedicated to Queen Margherita, and only after 1946 to the famous literary), the city's municipal theater, created by Giovan Battista Basile and Dionisio Sciascia, finely decorated.
Birthplace of Pirandello
A visit to Agrigento can not but be accompanied by a visit to the birth house of Pirandello, where the writer was born in 1867. Very beautiful and significant images stored inside the house while receiving the Nobel Prize in 1934.
Piazzi and Viali
Much of the beauty of Agrigento runs along its avenues and squares. Do not miss a walk on Viale della Vittoria, where Villa Bonfiglio is located the most important town villa, with its green spaces and areas where you can practice sports, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele full of beautiful buildings, Piazza Cavour, Piazza Marconi and Via Atenea , which runs through the whole city.
Museums
Even the museums of Agrigento are noteworthy. Among all, the Regional Archaeological Museum of Agrigento stands out, the most visited in all of Sicily: it allows you to take a journey through history, art and ethnography of the region. Do not miss the Civic Museum, located in Piazza del Municipio, where some medieval and renaissance sculptures and some paintings of great artistic value are preserved.
In the province of Agrigento
Lovers of the sea can not miss the Lido di San Leone, the most famous and renowned beach resort of the entire province of Agrigento, located at the foot of the Valley of the Temples. In summer this beach is always taken by many holidaymakers. Another obligatory stop in the province of Agrigento is that of Porto Empedocle, where both Pirandello and the contemporary writer Andrea Camilleri were born: in this seaside town there are the ruins of an ancient Roman villa.
The valley of the temples
Although the historic center of Agrigento has a lot to offer is also true that much of the beauty of this city is connected to the fact that overlooks the fascinating Valley of the Temples, which is nothing but the ruins of the ancient Akragas, or Agrigento for the Greeks. Located southeast of the current Agrigento this valley allows you to relive the prosperity and majesty of Magna Graecia: here the Greeks made a series of Doric temples, built around the fifth century BC; of some of these only a few remains remain, yet their sight leaves every tourist speechless. There are so many attractions in this city, among the main ones:
Temple of Concordia
It is the most imposing and one of the best preserved temples: built around 430 BC, the temple of Concordia is in Doric style and is reminiscent of the Parthenon of Athens. He is remembered for his "optical illusion" which makes him look taller and which, consequently, increases his majesty.
Temple of Zeus
Made of seven columns, unlike the others to six, the Temple of Zeus is one of the largest design temples, 113 meters long and 36 wide: nevertheless it was never completed. It was erected to celebrate the victory of the Carthaginians, today there are only a few remains of this temple. Next to this is the Talamone, 8 meters high.
Other temples
And it is still worth mentioning the Temple of Hercules, probably the oldest: the Temple of Juno, the temple of the Dioscuri (of which there are few but interesting testimonies), the tomb of Theron, the Temple of Castoro and Polluce.