Experience Sicily

Tag: agrigento

  • Illuminating

    On this, the longest night of the year, I think about something beautiful…. In Agrigento, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Valley of the Temples is magnificent to see. The individual temples, like this one, the 5th century BC Temple to Castor and Pollux, are illuminated at night for a breathtaking effect.

  • What She Wore

    19th century traditional dress of a woman from the “environs of Agrigento.”

  • A Powerful Impression

    At the Temple of Heracles in Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples, you’ll find eight reconstructed Doric-style columns from the massive 6th century BC structure. Like the Greek god for which it’s named, the sacred edifice leaves a powerful impression.

  • Night Vision

    Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples’ Tempio della Concordia at night.

  • Triskeles

    It’s believed that this object (a bowl?) was created by an artisan near Gela in the end of the 7th century BC. Its details recall those found on the Isle of Rhodes. The striking triskeles at the center of the design demonstrates the association of the ancient 3-legged symbol with Sicily. It was found in…

  • Ancient Sicilian Secret

    The cloistered Cistercian nuns of Agrigento’s Monastero di Santo Spirito, like many of their cloistered counterparts around Sicily, over the centuries have raised funds by selling baked goods. Pictured here is one of those goods–sweet couscous–for which the recipe is a secret. After eating it during our Experience Sicily tour in September, I can tell…

  • Up the Steps from Via Atenea

    If you’re in Agrigento, follow the set of steps off of Via Atenea. Once you get to the top (There are many, many steps!), you’ll find the Monastero di Santo Spirito, pictured here, where, since 1290 Cistercian nuns have served the Church. Traditionally, the nuns were cloistered (meaning, they secluded themselves from the world). Today…

  • Where the Guys Meet-Up

    When traveling to smaller cities and towns, in the piazzas and at the local bars, you will see men congregating and very few women. (Bars in Italy aren’t like bars here–they are all-day, family-friendly social centers based around cappuccino, espresso, sandwiches and baked goods, soccer broadcasts, and cocktails; hence, not just cocktails.). The home is…

  • The Stairs of the Turks

    The Scala dei Turchi near Agrigento was named after a local legend that describes when Saracen, or Turkish, pirates scaled the white limestone and clay cliffs that pour into the south-facing sea.