Another Day in Paradise: Valley of the Temples

Early Sunday night we checked into the Agriturismo Baglio San Nicola, a working farm near Naro and about a thirty minute drive from the Valley of the Temples, a large archaeological site immediately outside the city of Agrigento. We didn't quite know what to expect from an agriturismo, but found a lovely old farmhouse with gracious guest rooms and a modern addition to hold the reception and dining areas.

Can you tell it's getting ready to rain?

It also was a working farm with acres of grape vines (here covered before harvest) and many productive trees yielding pomegranates, walnuts, limes and lemons.

Besides being an interesting place to visit, the agriturismo put us close to the Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring seven Greek temples built between 510-430 B.C. and used by the inhabitants of the large Greek city of Akragas, which was settled in 580 B.C. We also planned to tour the Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento. We figured it would take us two full days to see both sites.

A glimpse of what's ahead

Temple of Juno

Concordia Temple

Ben by the city walls, later used as a necropolis

Temple of Heracles

Fallen "Atlas" from the Temple of Zeus

Sometimes you had to just stop and take it all in!

Although it is called a valley, the temple complex is up on a ridge from which there are nice views of the surrounding area. These two photos were taken from a much later garden on the ridge.

The archaeological museum was filled with items found near the temples and in the necropolis.

But perhaps the most interesting exhibit was of several Atlas from the Temple of Zeus reconstructed to their full height.

There was a helpful model of how they may have appeared in the Temple. Zeus clearly demanded a huge temple!

Model of one conjecture of the use of the Atlas.

The museum also had a display showing how Greeks painted their stonework. The lion sculpture on the left decorated a roof gutter. After it was sculpted it was painted and the right hand photo shows a conjecture of what that would have looked like. Recent scholarship has revealed that Greek buildings, including the temples, and sculpture were all painted, a hard idea to grasp when you're used to seeing "classical white" Greek ruins and artifacts!

Outside the museum an archaeological dig is underway to reveal a part of the city of Akragas as it was occupied by the Romans from the second century BC to the fourth century AD. Some floor mosaics have been uncovered, but basically the goal is to show the layout of the streets and buildings.

Ben reads a sign in the Roman Quarter.

In the evenings we ate dinner at the Agruturista. Many of the foods served were grown on the farm or in the area and dining at the hotel was a nice alternative to wandering around the rural back roads after dark.