Italy
Agrigento
Greek temples lit gold at night along a ridge, almond blossoms carpeting the valley below.
Seven Greek temples line a ridge above a valley of almond and olive trees, their honeyed columns warm against the evening sky. At night, floodlights turn the Temple of Concordia into a golden apparition floating above the dark Sicilian plain.
Agrigento's Valley of the Temples is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the Mediterranean — a row of Doric temples built between 510 and 430 BC when the city, then called Akragas, was among the wealthiest in the Greek world. The Temple of Concordia is one of the best-preserved Greek temples anywhere, its survival owed largely to its 6th-century conversion into a Christian church. The UNESCO World Heritage site spans 1,300 hectares. Below the ridge, the Kolymbetra Garden has been restored by FAI (Italy's National Trust) to its original state as an irrigated citrus and olive grove. The Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore each February fills the valley floor with almond blossoms in white and pink.
Solo
Walking the ridge alone at opening time, with the temples to yourself and the valley still cool, is one of Italy's most powerful solitary cultural experiences.
Couple
Evening visits to the illuminated temples, followed by dinner overlooking the ridge, combine ancient grandeur with genuine intimacy.
Family
The open-air scale gives children room to move, and the temples — tangible, enormous, and immediately impressive — hold attention in ways museum artefacts rarely do.
- The Valley of the Temples holds seven temples along a ridge — the Temple of Concordia, best preserved, became a Christian church in the 6th century, which saved it.
- An evening ticket allows access to the site after dark — the temples illuminated from below against a sky clear of light pollution.
- The Regional Archaeological Museum holds the Telamon — a 7.65-metre giant carved figure from the Temple of Zeus, reassembled from fragments found in the rubble.
- Pindar described Agrigento as 'the finest of mortal cities' around 470 BC — at its peak it was one of the most populous Greek cities in the ancient world.
Pasta con le sarde, sardine pasta with wild fennel, a Sicilian masterwork.
Cassata siciliana, the baroque sponge cake layered with ricotta, marzipan, and candied fruit.
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