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Temple of Concordia |
When you visit Palermo, there is one trip out of town that is
as close to a must see as anything, The Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. But
this trip takes a little planning because Agrigento is about a 3-hour drive
across Sicily.
The easy way is to use one of the on-line companies that
organizes group tours. For about $100 they will put you on a large bus with 50
other people. It will be comfortable, easy and not at all personal. Or you can
rent a car for the day. For about $35 you can rent a car. But add in the
taxes, insurance (because your home insurance probably doesn’t cover foreign
rentals, and gas, which is was $7/gallon in Sept. 2017, and this can cost significantly more. You will control your
trip, but not have any guidance other than what you can find on-line.
We opted for something in between these two. We hired an
individual guide to take us. This cost us $90 each for our group of 3. Our
guide was well worth the price. Francesco (fmtransfer94@gmail.com)
is a 20-something Palermitano, and he provided personal service and crafted our
day to provide the things that we wanted to do and see.
The trip to Agrigento starts early, because, without traffic,
it is a 2.5-hour drive across Sicily. More if you hit traffic leaving Palermo,
as we did. One nice thing about having our own driver was that we were able to
stop when we needed to, rather than having to meet the schedule of a tour
company. After spending an hour in traffic, this was very important.
The drive
across the center of Sicily was a look into the life of the island. We passed
many working farms growing wheat, olives and grapes. While poor, none of the
towns we saw seemed to suffer from the abject poverty that we sometimes see in
the United States.
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A farm along the highway |
When we arrived at Agrigento, Francesco arranged for us to
have lunch in the suburb of San Leone. This is a beach community south of the
town. Francesco made reservations at a restaurant called Il Pescatore, which is across
the street from the beach and a small amusement park. We were there on a cool
and windy Monday, so we had the place to ourselves. In fact, the whole beach
front seemed deserted. But the food was excellent, and we enjoyed our fresh
seafood tremendously. Francesco had made an excellent recommendation.
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The beach in San Leone |
After lunch we went to the Valley of the Temples. Really a
misnomer, the temples actually are on ridge just outside of the town of Agrigento.
Here the remains of seven temples from the era of ancient Greece, sit overlooking to
sea. They were placed here so that sailors entering the bay would see them and
know that Greece was in power here.
We climbed the path from the entrance, listening to excellent
audio guide, and arrived at the first temple – the Temple of Dioscuri (Castor
and Pollux). This temple has been pretty much torn apart and its stones are
strewn over a large field. In one corner there is a recreation of part of the
temple, built in the early 1800’s.
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The Amazing Ms. D at Gate V of the Valley |
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You author and our friend Marge among the stones |
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The Amazing Ms. D in front of the temple of Dioscuri |
The temples are situated along the top of a ridge, so it is
easy to follow the main path from one to the next, and the next temple along is
the Temple of Zeus. This temple has also been pretty much destroyed, but it
known for the telamons
that were part of the temple. Telamons are human figures that represent the
gods holding up the universe. These large carvings were not just decorations,
they were architectural support for the roof of the temple.
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Temple of Zeus |
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A Tamelon in front of the Temple of Zeus |
We crossed a footbridge over the main road from town and
arrived at the Temple of Hercules. Here eight of the columns on one side of the
temple are still standing. They make a wonderful backdrop for photos and
selfies.
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Temple of Hercules |
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Your Author |
We continued up the path, past the museum at the House of
Alexander Hardcastle, and we reached the jewel of this ancient collection, the
Temple of Concordia. Don’t go to your mythology books looking for a god named
Concordia, the temple was named after a plaque found nearby that spoke of
building peace (concord) among the people of Agrigento. The plaque probably was
made in the middle ages. This temple has survived in excellent shape. The
reason is that it was consecrated as a church in the early Christian era, and
it served this role until the late 1700’s. In 1810, archaeologist Domenico
Pietrasanta received permission from the local religious authorities to restore
it to the form it held as a temple, and so its columns and walls are mostly
intact.
Which brings me to issue of the condition of the temples. For
many years, the official story was that the temples were destroyed in an earthquake.
However, the Temple of Concordia survived intact. Now you might believe it was
a miracle, but most historians now accept that the temples were destroyed by the
early Christian church, in an effort to do away with worship of older religions.
This is where my tour of the temples ended. It was already
getting late, and we had a long drive home awaiting us. Francesco took great
care of us on the trip home, and even though we found construction at almost
every turn, we arrived in reasonable time. He even took the time for a much
needed stop at an ATM.
We had a wonderful day. Having a private guide gave us a chance
to see more of Sicily and talking to Francesco taught us more about the life of
Sicilian people.
Getting There:
Agrigento is about 130 Km (80 miles) from Palermo, but
traffic, construction and the general state of the highways make this a trip
that takes over 2 hours. You can rent a car, take Italrail or take a tour. We
highly recommend Francesco. His email is fmtransfer94@gmail.com. His phone - +39-391.721.4040 He is also available for airport transfers.
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