Things to do in Agrigento

Agrigento stands on a hill, with the Valley of the Temples below it on the way to the sea. The valley is really a ridge. Greek settlers founded Akragas here in 581 BC, and the site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

The ridge of temples

Most things to do in Agrigento are about this ridge. Five Doric temples stand along it.

• Concordia. Almost intact. It was turned into a church in the 6th century AD.
• Hera, or Juno. Perched at the eastern end, near the main entrance.
• Olympian Zeus. A field of fallen blocks, with a giant stone telamon laid out among them. The original figure is in the archaeological museum.
• Kolymbethra. A sunken garden of citrus and olive trees inside the park, managed by the FAI, Italy's heritage trust.

The town and the coast

The old town sits on the hill above, along Via Atenea and around the cathedral of San Gerlando. It was called Girgenti until 1927. The playwright Luigi Pirandello, who won the Nobel Prize in 1934, was born just outside the town in 1867.

West of the city a white cliff, the Scala dei Turchi, drops to a sand beach. Multi-day island circuits often stop nearby.

Practical

• Weather. Highs reach about 31C in July and August, and about 15C in January. Most rain falls between October and March, and the almond trees bloom in February.
• Shade. The ridge has almost none. Walk the temples early or late and keep the Kolymbethra garden for midday.
• Time. The temples and the museum together fill half a day.
• Distances. Palermo is 130 km, about two hours. Catania is about 170 km away, around two hours.
• Getting around. The old town is up the hill from the valley, so take a bus, a taxi or a car between them.