Connections with other UNESCO sites

Places and symbols of power in the UNESCO Sites of Sicily

The Greek Akragas first, and then the Roman Agrigentum, for centuries constituted a power known throughout the Mediterranean basin, signalled to navigators by the Doric temples that still embrace the southern part of the city.
Thanks to its favourable position at the centre of the trade routes, the whole of Sicily has seen the development of personalities and dynasties that treasured this particular connotation of the island, exploiting it for the growth of personal power and drawing wealth from it for the construction of sumptuous houses.
In Palermo, outside the walls of the ancient city, it is still possible to visit the Zisa Palace, devised as a summer residence of the Norman King William I in the 11th century, a grandiose combination of Norman architecture and Arab engineering.
In Ragusa, on the other hand, there is the Donnafugata Castle, whose first construction dates back to the Counts of Modica in the 14th century, but transformed into a Neo-Gothic castle during the 19th century at the behest of Baron Corrado Arezzo.
Even more than the sumptuous interiors, the garden is astonishing, an 8-hectare park that even houses a labyrinth built with dry stone walls that were covered with rose plants.
Finally, back to times closer to those of our Agrigentum, the Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina.
Probably belonging to a member of the Roman senatorial aristocracy or, according to some scholars, built and extended on a direct imperial commission, it can be considered one of the most significant examples of a residence of reception, compared to other contemporaries of the Roman West.
The high profile of its commissioner is celebrated eloquently in the mosaic ornaments that pass through public and private rooms.

From Akragas to Agrigentum

The wellness centres of the Romans

The sarcophagus of the Child

The domus, guardians of private life

Hellenistic heritage on the streets of Agrigentum

The ancient port of Agrigentum

The Oratory of Phalaris

The centre of politics in Agrigentum

The tomb of Theron

The forum in the city of the Akragantines

The driver of Agrigentum’s well-being

The Kolymbetra Garden

Works for the muses: the mosaics of the Hellenistic-Roman quarter

The Hellenistic-Roman quarter

The Romans settle in Agrigentum

The Roman necropolis

Politics comparison: Akragas and Agrigentum

The gods of Agrigento

The life of young people in Roman times

Breathing in world heritage together

The cult of the Emperor

Moments of leisure: the theatre

Cicero’s account: Agrigentum in In Verrem

An exceptional discovery: the thermal baths of Agrigentum

Mens sana in corpore sano: the gymnasium of Agrigento

The Living Almond Museum

Roman affairs

The theatre of origins

The provincial layout of Sicily

The Punic Wars and the final conquest of Akragas

A Sanctuary for the Latin gods

Vegetation in the Gardens