Today we drove from the north coast to the south coast. We started on a minor road, most of which have the odd broken edge, buckle or pothole …
… then we joined the A19 that stretched across the valleys on stilts …
… and finished our journey on the 640 to Agrigento, which is being replaced with a new road, but only bits have been built so one minute we were on a brand new dual carriageway and the next on an old bit.
As always, there were flowers that wanted their pictures taken …
Once in Agrigento we had a look round the Archaeological Museum, to get a bit of background. Akragas as it was known, became one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies in the 6C BC. Several of the temples have standing remains, but many were toppled by earthquakes and stones have been plundered for other buildings such as the local port as late as the 18C. They had some impressive vases showing mythological scenes, clay masks, terracotta figurines and vases that had been used as offerings, a marble statue of a young man and several sarcophaguses. They also had a reconstructed Telamon, a row of which would have held up the now ruined Temple of Zeus, and a model of what it might have looked like.
The archaeological site is huge, with a lot of stones and bits of ruins lying about. So much has been removed, it is unlikely that anything more can be reconstructed, and there are five temples with standing parts. The Temple of Castor & Pollux was the first we saw and looked quite amazing with the town in the background.
It is the symbol of modern Agrigento, even though it is a 19C reconstruction with columns from various temples. The Temple of Zeus has no standing remains, just a Telamon on the ground.
The Temple of Concordia has survived so well as it was used as a Christian basilica, but the Christian structures were removed in the 18C and it has been repeatedly restored.
There are various modern sculptures in the valley, but this one looked particularly impressive.
Next comes the Temple of Juno, my personal favourite, a view from each side, the second just before thunder and lightening shower, during which we sheltered under remains of the arcosolian tombs.
Lastly we saw the Temple of Heracles, which is the oldest temple and whose 8 columns standing today were resurrected in the 1920’s by an Englishman called Hardcastle.
Needless to say, there were some blooms, even here …
Afterwards, we drove down to the sea and to visit Scala dei Turchi, or Turkish Steps, to see the marl cliffs, rich with calcium carbonate, giving the white colour.
During our stay, we had a lovely B&B in Agrigento called Camera a Sud where we were made very welcome and also ate well including dinner at Trattoria Concordia where Chris had sformatino, a fabulous vegetable mousse finished with cheese sauce and pistachios.
Tomorrow we drive west along the coast.
Off Travelling Together 