Valley of the Temples

The Valley of the Temples is the archaeological and landscape park associated with ancient Akragas. It is not synonymous with every part of the broader UNESCO Archaeological Area of Agrigento, which extends from the Rupe Atenea and ancient acropolis to the sacred hill of the principal Doric temples and the extramural necropolis.^1,2

UNESCO identifies Agrigento as a Greek colony founded in the sixth century BCE. The Ministry describes Akragas as founded around 582 BCE by colonists from Gela and Rhodes, with an acropolis at Rupe Atenea, monumental sanctuaries on the Temple Hill, a central inhabited and public zone, and cemeteries beyond the city. These are layered urban functions, not a temple-only past.^1,2

UNESCO records excavated evidence for the later Hellenistic and Roman town and early Christian burial practices. The Ministry adds that Roman Agrigento experienced prosperity linked in part to sulphur trade between the second and fourth centuries CE, while churches and cemeteries later appeared on the Temple Hill. The ancient place continued to change; it was not frozen in a Greek moment.^1,2

The Valley of the Temples is within the UNESCO World Heritage property Archaeological Area of Agrigento, inscribed in 1997 as property 831 under criteria (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv). The property is 934 hectares with a 1,869-hectare buffer zone. This attraction is a constituent park/site context, not the separately named World Heritage property itself.¹

UNESCO identifies unexcavated structures, underground aqueducts and the broader ancient polis as part of the property's integrity, while noting land instability as an issue. It records that the regional 2000 law established the archaeological and landscape park to protect and enhance both landscape and historic heritage. These are conservation contexts, not a current safety, route or access statement.¹