Sicily: Valley of the Temples & Syracuse
A curated tour of ancient Greek Sicily — two UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the island's southern and eastern coasts: the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, the greatest ensemble of Greek architecture outside Greece, and Syracuse, once the most powerful city in the Western Mediterranean, rivalling Athens itself.
Trip Stops
- 1
The ideal starting point for the Valley of the Temples — houses a colossal reconstructed Telamon (Atlas figure) from the Temple of Zeus, the only complete one in existence, standing 7.65 metres tall. Its scale model of the original temple reveals the jaw-dropping ambition of ancient Akragas. The museum was originally a medieval convent, and its central cloister is one of the most peaceful spots in Agrigento.
📍 Agrigento, Agrigento, Italy
- 2
The oldest temple in the Valley — dating to the late 6th century BC and mentioned by Cicero as housing a famous bronze statue of Heracles so magnificent that visitors polished its chin and lips with kisses. Only 8 of its original 38 columns stand, re-erected in 1924. Its position at the western end of the ridge makes it the natural starting point of the downhill walk eastward through the Valley.
📍 Agrigento, Agrigento, Italy
- 3
The largest Doric temple ever attempted in the ancient world — begun after Akragas's victory over the Carthaginians at Himera in 480 BC to celebrate their triumph, it covered 112 × 56 metres and was flanked by 7-metre-tall Telamon figures supporting the entablature. It was never fully completed. Its fallen remains, including an original Telamon lying on the ground, convey the sheer hubris of its builders.
📍 Agrigento, Agrigento, Italy
- 4
The best-preserved Greek temple in the world outside of the Hephaestus temple in Athens — built around 440–430 BC, its 34 Doric columns still stand to their full height of 6.7 metres. It survived because it was converted into a Christian church in the 6th century AD. Best seen at sunset when the golden limestone blazes against the sky, and spectacular after dark under floodlights.
📍 Agrigento, Agrigento, Italy
- 5
The most dramatically positioned temple in the Valley — perched on the eastern tip of the ridge with sweeping views over the Sicilian countryside, its 25 surviving columns and the remains of its ancient sacrificial altar still visible in front. Traces of red fire damage on its columns are believed to be from the Carthaginian sack of Akragas in 406 BC — a battle that ended the city's golden age.
📍 Agrigento, Agrigento, Italy
- 6
The ancient heart of Syracuse — a tiny island connected to the mainland by two bridges, inhabited continuously since the Bronze Age and settled by Greek colonists from Corinth in 733 BC. Its layered landmarks include the Temple of Apollo (Sicily's oldest surviving Doric temple, 6th century BC), the Cathedral of Syracuse (a Greek temple to Athena with its original columns still embedded in the church walls), and the mythical Fountain of Arethusa, one of the world's few freshwater springs emerging directly beside the sea.
📍 Syracuse, Syracuse, Italy
- 7
One of the largest and finest Greek theatres in the ancient world — carved directly into the limestone of Temenite Hill in the 5th century BC, redesigned by King Hiero II in the 3rd century BC to seat 15,000 spectators, with panoramic views over the Great Harbour below. Aeschylus himself premiered works here. The Spanish later quarried the upper seating to fortify Ortygia — and it is still used every summer for classical performances.
📍 Syracuse, Syracuse, Italy
- 8
A 23-metre-high S-shaped limestone cave named in 1608 by Caravaggio, who noticed its ear-like shape and perfect acoustics — a whisper at one end is amplified to fill the entire cavity. According to legend, the tyrant Dionysius I used it as a prison for political dissidents and eavesdropped on their whispered plans through a hole at the top. In reality it was a Greek limestone quarry, and the Athenian prisoners captured after the disastrous 413 BC Syracuse expedition may have been held in the adjacent latomia.
📍 Syracuse, Syracuse, Italy
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