Scarica Agrigento: History, Culture, and Tourist Attractions e più Guide, Progetti e Ricerche in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! AGRIGENTO: HISTORY AND CULTURE AGRIGENTO It is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas, one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece. Then, during the Punic wars it was conquered by the Romans, who latinized the name in Agrigentum. Later it fell under Arab rule, with the name of Kerkent, and in 1089 it was conquered by the Normans, who renamed it Girgenti Main Churches • Church of Saint Mary of the Greeks. It was built in the 12th century on the remains of an ancient Doric temple and it has also a portal in Gothic style. • Church of St. Nicholas. It is located in the archaeological area of the Valley of the Temples; from its position, you can enjoy a wide view of the Doric remains. It is an excellent example of Gothic art. Piazza Pirandello Palazzo dei Giganti, located in Piazza Pirandello. It was built in 1627 and was originally the Agrigento residence of the Princes of Lampedusa and dukes of Palma. It became a Dominican convent. Starting from 1867 it became the seat of the municipality. The structure is compact and elegant. Inside there is the Pirandello Theater. a
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Pirandello’s house Luigi Pirandello (Agrigento, 1867- Roma, 1936) was a playwriter that lived during XX century. Pirandello’ s house Pirandello’ s house was a rural costruction of the end 700 but in 1943 was demaged by an outbreak of a nearly depot. In 1949 it was declared a public monument, in 1952 became propriety of Sicily Region and in 1987 it became an istitute with the Biblioteca Luigi Pirandello. Camilleri’s house Andrea Calogero Camilleri (Porto Empedocle, 1925) is an Italian writer and playwriter. The Scala dei Turchi It became a turistic attraction for the particular shape of the cliff and also because of the Camilleri’s stories of Montalbano, the famous policeman. To get there you need to go along a coast similar to a flight of steps in limestone. Porto Empedocle Porto Empedocle was originally the port of the ancient Girgenti, the actual Agrigento. Starting from the XV century, it was the main spot for cereals trade in that area. The defense towers testify the important role that this site has had. Torre Carlo V Built in the XIV century to defend the coastline from the pirates and called “Torre del caricatore di Girgenti”. Restored between 1549 e 1554 and later by the emperor Carlo V. It took his modern name from this important restoration wanted by Carlo V. Salt mines •There are three important salt mines in Sicily: -Realmonte e Racamulto, located near Agrigento and Porto Empedocle -Petralia, in the district of Palermo •This mines are some of the biggest in Europe Realmonte •Realmonte’s mine is the biggest of the three, in fact it has 100 milion tons of salt •The annual production is quite big. Every year the mine brings about five hundred thousand tons •It reaches a depth of 100 meters and the estraction is very risky due to the use of dynamite LA VALLE DEI TEMPLI STORIA It was founded in 581 b.C. By the inhabitants of Gela and was one of the main cities of the ancient world. After the raid by the Carthaginians, in 406 b.C., there was a period of decline that led to the destruction of the city, which was later rebuilt. From the VII century the city passed a sad period and it was reduced only to the hill of the acropolis and the urban area was abandoned as well as the valley of the temples. During the school trip to Sicily, we also visited an import museum in Agrigento. In fact, the regional archaeological museum «Pietro Griffo» is certainly one of the most important and most visited in Sicily. The archaeological museum exhibits as many as 5688 artifacts which, sorted according to a chronological and topographical criterion, illustrate the history of the Agrigento area from prehistory to the end of the greek-roman age. The Temples The Valley includes remains of three mains temples, all in Doric style: Temple of Concordia Temple of Heracles Olympeion field. Temple of Concordia The Temple of Concordia is the most notable edifices of the Greek civilization existing today. It has a peristais of 6 x 13 doric columns. This temple was turned into a church. When this happened, the entrance was moved to the rear, and the rear wall of the cella was destroyed. The spaces between the columns were closed, while 12 arched openings were created in the cella. Th pagan altar was destroyed and sacristies were carved out in the eastern corners. The sepultures inside and outside the temple are dated to the High Middle Age. Temple of Heracles The name Temple of Heracles is an attribution of modern scholarship, based on Cicero’s mention of a temple dedicated to the hero “not far from the agorà" containing a famous statue of Heracles. The buildings has a peristais of 6 x 15 Doric columns. The columns are high and have wide capitals. On the eastern side are remains of the large altar. Stylistically, the temple belongs to the last years of the 6th century BC. It has been also suggested that this temple was one of the first built under Theron. One hypothesis is that the temple was begun before the Battle of Himera, to be completed only in the following decades.
