The Valley of the Temples is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient Greek Akragas), Sicily. It is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy. The area was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1997. The Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples is the largest archaeological site in the world with 1,300 hectares.
Agrigento Timeline
- 580 BC: Agrigento is founded as a colony of Gela and came to prominence under the tyrants Phalaris and Theron
- 480 BC: The artificial lake Kolymbetra was dug by Theron’s Carthaginian prisoners taken at Himera
- 406 BC: The Carthaginians capture the city after an eight-month siege and burn the city
- 340 BC: Agrigento was rebuilt by Timoleon, who defeated the Carthaginians
- 261 BC: The Romans take the city
- 255 BC: Carthaginians recapture the city
- 218-201 BC Agrigento suffered badly during the Second Punic War when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it.
- 210 BC: The Romans take the city again, this time Agrigentum remained in their possession until the fall of the empire. Agrigentum remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries after the Roman conquest.
- After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city successively passed into the hands of the Vandalic Kingdom, the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and then the Byzantine Empire. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved to the former acropolis, at the top of the hill (this was probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens).
- Late 6th century: The Temple of Concord is converted into a church by the bishop of Agrigento, San Gregorio delle Rape (St Gregory of the Turnips)
- 828 AD: The Arabs take the city and make the trade flourish by cultivating cotton, sugar-cane and mulberries for the silk industry (they even had to make a new harbour, at Porto Empedocles)
- 1087: The Normans take Agrigento after a 116 days siege
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