Agrigento

Vivi in cheeky mood at the temple of Castor and Pollux!









The only temple to remain almost complete after the earthquakes and various sackings by invaders 'Concordia'



The remains of what would have been the largest Doric temple in Europe - the temple of Zeus - but it was sacked before completion by the Carthaginians in 406BC. Ironically the foundations had been laid by Carthaginian slaves 100 years earlier! The top of a Doric column here shows just how huge it would have been and has been lying here undisturbed ever since.





A Telamon with arms raised to support the temple's weight (Temple of Zeus)







Almond blossom






Alec trying to blend as an American to better hear what their guide was saying!





Sunday 28th February
Agrigento

Agrigento was flattened by the allies in the war and is now full of ugly high rise blocks, but fortunately the Valley of the Temples wasn’t, and it is nearly as spectacular as the Valley of the Kings. It is half way between Agrigento and the sea with each temple on top of a hill. We spent several hours exploring. The Lonely Planet says Feb and March are the best time to visit because the almond blossom is out and there are few tourists. They are right and the whole valley was awash with blooming fruit trees and wild flowers. (It pained us greatly to have to buy a Lonely Planet as it is yet another thing to carry, but we were very much in the dark without it here as there is so little local information. It doubly pained us as we were charged 24 euros for it and on the back it clearly said £14.99, but there was only 1 book in English so we were stuck) Anyway it is very good and we know much more now!
There is a combination of Greek and Roman temples which were built between 700 B.C and 400 A.D. Like everything else in these parts they had been almost completely destroyed by earthquakes, but fortunately a Capt Hardcastle retired to the hills here after WW1. He was particularly interested in ancient remains and motivated the local community to uncover and re-erect many of the columns. We had a picnic in the shade of an olive grove and it was very peaceful.