Valley of the Temples

The Valley of the Temples is a Greek ruin and UNSECO site outside of Agrigento, Sicily. It was part of an important settlement in Magna Graecia. The Temple of Junio Lacinia, pictured, was built around 450 B.C.

The view from the hills is beautiful.

Agrigento is perched over the ruins.

The ruins are close to the south coast of Sicily.

The Temple of Concordia is the best preserved ruin in the Valley of the Temples.

The archeological site is the largest in the world, at 1,300 hectares, but the major ruins are along one path. I recommend taking a taxi to the top of the hill and walking back to the car park.

The Girgentana goat is endemic to the area, and looks likes goats from Afghanistan. It may have been introduced to the area by Greeks or Arabs.

The Temple of Heracles may have been build just before the Battle of Himera, around 480 BC, when the Greek King of Syracuse and the Greek Tyrant of Agrigentum defeated the Carthaginian reconquest of Agrigentum.

Ruins among the boulders.

Atlas statues litter the ground around the Olympeion field.

A friendly dog escorted us through the ruins!