Athena Review Image Archive ™
Agrigento: Map of the Valley of the Temples
Agrigento: Map of the Valley of the Temples (Athena Review Image Archive)
This map shows the locations of major sites and temples in the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, located between Porta II and Porta V.
Called Acragas in ancient times, Agrigento was founded in ca. 580 BC by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete. The Greek city reached its high point in the early 5th century, during the reign of Theron (488-472 BC), when the population may have been as high as 100,000. The city was sacked by the Carthagenians in 406 BC and several times thereafter. Shortly before 200 BC, the Romans took control of the city after winning the Punic Wars.
The major temples of the Greek period are of the Doric order and date from the 6th-5th centuries BC. These sometimes well-preserved structures are lined along the southern end of the city, along a ridgetop now called the Valley of the Temples. These include the Temples of Hera, Concord, Herakles, and Zeus, and the Sanctuary of the Underground (Cthonic) Deities, Demeter and Persephone. Later monuments include the Hellenistic-Roman necropolis, and the Byzantine necropolis.
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