Weathered fluted drums of fallen Doric columns amid ruined temples and other sacred structures dedicated to two deities of the Ancient Greek Underworld, the goddess Demeter and her daughter, Persephone. The buildings, raised in the late-400s BC, are in the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, the former Graeco-Roman city of Akragas or Agrigentum.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy: these weathered fluted drums of fallen Doric columns lie in an area of the Valle dei Templi or Valley of the Temples archaeological park known as the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities. The area was once a sacred complex devoted to the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, both deities of the Ancient Greek Underworld. The area lies close to Gate V, a main entrance through the southern walls defending the ancient Graeco-Roman city of Akragas or Agrigentum. It includes the remains of several ruined temples, circular altars and the triangular Terrazzo dei Donàri (Terrace of the Divinities), on which statues of the gods stood on plinths. Four columns of one late-5th century BC Doric temple are still in place because it was partly reconstructed in the mid-1800s, but the dedication given to it at that time, to Castor and Pollux or the Dioscuri, is almost certainly wrong; it is much more likely to have also been dedicated to the cult of Demeter and Persephone. Akragas was founded in about 580 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Rhodes and Crete. It expanded rapidly, becoming a prosperous leading city of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece) before it was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. It never regained its former status and in the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, it changed hands several times. Rome finally triumphed, renamed it Agrigentum and allowed its people to become Roman citizens. When the Western Roman Empire fell, Agrigentum was ruled in turn by Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Saracens and Normans. Akragas covered a vast area, much of it not yet excavated. Its seven monumental Doric temples are among the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. The entire city remains 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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