Agrigento

Akragas to the Greeks, renamed Agrigentum by the Romans, but known as Kerkent to the Arabs and called Girgenti by the Normans; welcome to Agrigento, situated between the ‘Colle di Girgenti’ and ‘la Rupe Atenea’, the Greek poet Pindaro called it “the most beautiful of mortal cities”. Today, Agrigento carries the legacies of many different cultures and art embodied now in the labyrinth of streets and alleyways placed behind and around the main Via Atenea, and in the limestone and sandstone noble palaces and beautiful churches that run along it. A visit to the “Casa Romita” museum in the Contrada Caos area is a definite must-see, as it was the childhood home of the Nobel prize-winning writer Luigi Pirandello. The alleyway next to the house leads to the “pino solitario” (solitary pine) standing tall and majestic on the land and is a place where the writer often went to meditate and gain inspiration. This land is home to the incredible and moving Valley of Temples, a legacy of the Greeks who built these perfect architectural forms in honour of the Gods Castor and Pollux. Such wonders deserve close inspection: a succession of temples dedicated to Jupiter, Heracles, Concordia and that of Juno, a temple of the utmost artistic perfection. Agrigento is also the land of almond flowers, which provide an unsurpassed spectacle of unified history and nature.