Steps around the perimeter of the vast Ancient Greek Temple of Olympian Zeus in the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, are surmounted by tumbled heaps of cut stone blocks and column drums dislodged by earthquakes or in wars with Carthage. The Doric temple, one of the world’s largest, was built around 480 BC to serve the Greek port city of Akragas.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy: Ancient Greek masonry, dislodged by wars and earthquakes, lies piled along the edges of the vast rectangular stepped base of the ruined Temple of Olympian Zeus in the Valle dei Templi or Valley of the Temples, the site of the ancient Graeco-Roman city of Akragas or Agrigentum. The temple is one of the world’s largest Doric structures. Estimates of its size vary, but it was probably about 113 meters (370 ft) long, (185 ft) wide and between 20m (66 ft) and 30m (98 ft) high. The temple, dedicated to the king or father of the Olympian gods, was built to celebrate the 480 BC Greek victory at Himera over Carthage; its builders may have been Carthaginian captives used as slaves. Carthage may have faced further humiliation because the 38 giant Atlas telamons supporting its upper structure may have depicted ‘barbarian’ Carthaginians. The temple was still roofless when Carthage sacked the city in 406 BC, badly damaging it. Earthquakes then further wrecked it and much of the stonework was taken for re-use, both in medieval times and in the 1700s. It became a quarry for building work in Agrigento and also for new breakwaters and jetties at the nearby seaport of Porto Empedocle. Akragas, founded around 580 BC by Greek colonists, was a prosperous port and leading city of Magna Graecia or Greater Greece. Its growth stalled after it was sacked by Carthage and although it did thrive again, it never regained its former status. In the 3rd century BC, it changed hands several times as Rome and Carthage fought the Punic Wars. The Romans won, renaming it Agrigentum, but after Rome fell, the city was ruled in turn by Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Saracens and Normans. The ruins are now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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