Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico Valle dei Templi Photos
Recommended Reviews - Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico Valle dei Templi
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Next to Stonehenge, I have never been more moved by a place that I have visited than I have by the Valley of the Temples. As soon as I stepped off the bus, the energy of this place just hit me full on. Sicily's history is rampant with different cultures conquering the island. There are many Greek temples, theatres, and ruins all over the island. The Valley (a blatant misnomer, as it is a ridge rather than a valley) is home to eight Greek temples (the Temples of Hera, Concordia, Heracles, Zeus, Castor and Pollux, Hephaestos, Demeter and Asclepius). These temples are some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece. This wonderous place is also a UNESCO heritage site. If you walk into the park from the eastside, you will first come upon the Temple of Juno followed by the Temple of Concordia. Juno and Concordia are the most intact temples in the park, as the rest were either destroyed by earthquakes or quarried for their stone. The largest temple is the Temple of Zeus, but it seems as though it was never completed. I was lucky enough, due to living in Sicily for three years, to visit this park multiple times. Take your time and soak up the energy in and around these temples. Also, make sure to enjoy the view of the Mediterranean, as it is one of the most exquisite.
Must visit place! This is true history. Old old history. You can walk all the way through and exit the other way, but mostly tourist will park their cars and go in, so us alternative route on the way back. Alternative rout has no groups of tourists hanging around. You may enjoy quietness and relax At the entrance you may buy a a tour guide, which asked us €60 and told that tour would take one hour. Probably would take €50 at ease. Not all descriptive boards are written in English. Some are only in Italian. So be sure you know some or you won't understand everything that is there. Public WC for free inside park a bit further away. There were no paper in ladies toilets.
2 years ago
I cannot even put in words how beautiful the Valle dei Templi is. Visiting this side will 'transport' you back in time and leave you in awe. Most of the temples are in exceptional condition making it easy to imagine how life must have used to be during the Roman/Greek times. We arrived in the morning and spent about 3-4 hours waking the site. I was worried about not bringing enough water since it was a super hot and dry day. Fortunately the park has water fountains though out. Tip: Make sure to wear comfortable shoes, sunshades and weather appropriate clothing. There is not much shade and you will be walking a LOT :) read more
We use our weekends to try and and do small day trips around Sicily. Agrigento was a two hour drive from our home near Misterbianco so off we went. The drive through the countryside was so beautiful. Green rolling hills with orchards and vineyards, Mt. Etna covered in snow, old abandoned villas, flocks of sheep, big blue skies, all the pictures you see on calendars are true! Since this trip to Sicily came up suddently I literally had zero time to prepare and research the island. I had just bought a book on Sicily the day before and started to flip through the pages once in the car. When we arrived to the outskirts of Agrigento imagine my surprise when I saw the spectacular columns perched up high on a hill! I was in disbelief. It was a wonderful surprise and a part of me was actually thrilled that I was unprepared for such an ancient structure to suddenly appear. This was the Valley of the Temples and the structures had been repositioned by archeologist back in the s1920s as they were in 580 BC. The Greek Temples were made to honor the Greek Gods. The views from the top during sunset were breathtaking and having the view of the sea added to the surrealism. You will spend a few hours here in serenity walking thru the ruins, taking pictures and reading the information boards. It cost us 10 euro each to get in and the kids were free. English was scarce with parking and entry fee attendants. Parking was 3 E and they had some restrooms near the parking with an asking tip of 50 cents. Bathrooms were clean. I did see a cafe and bookstore but it was closed when we were there, so bring some snacks just in case. You will be here for about two hours. We managed to see what we wanted in one hour. A small little gift trailer was just outside the entrance selling postcards, books and trinkets. I saw a tour bus stop here so that is an option for a more fullfilling experience. Lucky for us the site was already programmed in our GPS. We came at the end of the day so there were not many crowds which made for great photo ops with no tourist in the background.and dusk lighting perfect for picture taking. Don't miss this stop if you are in Sicily! read more
Next to Stonehenge, I have never been more moved by a place that I have visited than I have by the Valley of the Temples. As soon as I stepped off the bus, the energy of this place just hit me full on. Sicily's history is rampant with different cultures conquering the island. There are many Greek temples, theatres, and ruins all over the island. The Valley (a blatant misnomer, as it is a ridge rather than a valley) is home to eight Greek temples (the Temples of Hera, Concordia, Heracles, Zeus, Castor and Pollux, Hephaestos, Demeter and Asclepius). These temples are some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece. This wonderous place is also a UNESCO heritage site. If you walk into the park from the eastside, you will first come upon the Temple of Juno followed by the Temple of Concordia. Juno and Concordia are the most intact temples in the park, as the rest were either destroyed by earthquakes or quarried for their stone. The largest temple is the Temple of Zeus, but it seems as though it was never completed. I was lucky enough, due to living in Sicily for three years, to visit this park multiple times. Take your time and soak up the energy in and around these temples. Also, make sure to enjoy the view of the Mediterranean, as it is one of the most exquisite. read more
12 years ago
Must visit place! This is true history. Old old history. You can walk all the way through and exit the other way, but mostly tourist will park their cars and go in, so us alternative route on the way back. Alternative rout has no groups of tourists hanging around. You may enjoy quietness and relax At the entrance you may buy a a tour guide, which asked us €60 and told that tour would take one hour. Probably would take €50 at ease. Not all descriptive boards are written in English. Some are only in Italian. So be sure you know some or you won't understand everything that is there. Public WC for free inside park a bit further away. There were no paper in ladies toilets. read more
It's an absolutely amazing place in Agrigento on Sicily. The old park is very large and you can spend a whole day watching the excavations. There's also a museum at the park, but the guy at the ticketoffice advised us not to pay for that also and told us that we've couldn't see it all in one day - a very good advice! We didn't get a guided tour and just strolled through the park on our own. There's a lot of signs explaining the different excavations so we didn't needed a guide and could go in our own pace. Remember to bring water! read more
14 years ago
11 years ago
