Agrigento

After Selinunte I drove to Agrigento.
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It was less than 100 km (60 miles), but I soon realized that driving on an undivided highway is very different from driving on autostrada. It took me at least one hour to forget about "Minnesota nice" and to start driving like locals do (OK, best approximation). In Agrigento, I could not find my hotel and made a couple of circles around it. I did not have GPS and thought about it for the next time. Apparently, GPS would not have helped either - in the hotel's elevator a pair complained to me how difficult was to find the hotel with GPS. Agrigento has Valley of Temples where I went in the afternoon. It was hot and I walked a lot between temples (see the map below).

It's hard to believe, but it is Italy, not Greece. Originally, the population of Agrigento was 200,000 and the city had 21 temples. Today the site boasts seven temples, but several of them are in ruins. Still, those are the largest and the best preserved Greek building outside of Greece and the site itself is inscribed (what does it mean?) as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is a quote from UNESCO - "Founded as a Greek colony in the 6th century B.C., Agrigento became one of the leading cities in the Mediterranean world. Its supremacy and pride are demonstrated by the remains of the magnificent Doric temples that dominate the ancient town, much of which still lies intact under today's fields and orchards." Above is Temple of Concordia constructed in 5-6 century BC and converted to a Christian church sometime in between 4th and 6th century.

 Not much left from Temple of Hera.

Corner of Temple of "Castor and Pollux" - is modern reconstruction (19th century). Despite the fact that the remains were reconstructed from pieces from several temples, this temple is now the symbol of modern Agrigento (at the background). The map of the site is below.

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