Stepped base and fallen masonry of the Ancient Greek Temple of Olympian Zeus, Valle dei Templi, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, site of the port city of Akragas founded in 580 BC. This Doric temple, one of the largest in the world, was built late 400s BC.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy: Visitors to the Valley of the Temples UNESCO World Heritage Site find welcome shade under trees growing before the rectangular stepped base and fallen masonry of the Ancient Greek Temple of Olympian Zeus, built around 480 BC to serve the thriving port city of Akragas. Cut stone blocks and column drums, dislodged by wars and earthquakes, lie all over the site of the massive temple dedicated to the king or father of the Olympian gods, which is one of the largest Doric structures in the world. 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 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.
Size: 4164px × 2771px
Location: Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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