What It’s Like to Visit Agrigento and the Valley of the Temp, Agrigento, Italy

History is always a good way to lure me to a destination and the island of Sicily has it in great supply. Besides the gorgeous mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale, the other major historical attraction I knew of in Sicily was in the city of Agrigento. There’s not too much unique about the city really, but Agrigento isn’t really the reason people visit Agrigento, if you know what I mean. No, they come to the city for the incredible ancient Greek ruins known as the Valley of the Temples.

This huge archaeological site is probably the most popular and impressive historical site in all of Sicily, even if it’s only home to some of the Greek temples in Sicily. The Valle dei Templi in Italian, these ancient ruins reflect an entire city all on their own and really are one of the best places to visit in Sicily. To give you a sense of what the Valley of the Temples and Agrigento have to offer, allow me to walk you through my experience visiting back in 2019.

To appreciate why Agrigento is such an interesting place to visit, you first need to know a little of its history. And by that, I really mean the history of the Valley of the Temples. Because curiously enough, this ancient city was actually built by the Greeks who colonised parts of Sicily in the 6th century BC. Finding Roman ruins across Europe is always interesting, but Greek ones are far less common. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).