The monumentalization of Akragas

The Kolymbetra Garden

After the Battle of Himera in 480 BC, Theron tasked the architect Feace with designing a hydraulic system to bring water to the city. The aqueducts, named Feaci after the architect, flowed into a single small lake located in the southern part of the township, near to what we know today as the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities .I giardini della Kolymbetra It soon became a veritable pool measuring 1300 metres long and 9 metres deep! Several species of colourful fish were brought into the lake and they swam together in the water, while the vegetation around them attracted beautiful swans and other birds.
Diodorus Siculus tells us that later on this area was neglected because maintenance was too expensive and consequently the pool dried up. The land was then planted with vines and fragrant fruit trees but in the following years the area was abandoned.
The Kolymbetra Garden now shines with luxuriant vegetation once more, thanks to the Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano (Italian Environment Fund). Through a number of interventions, the ancient canals designed by the architect Feace have begun to irrigate the garden and its crops again, allowing the vegetation to grow luxuriant and strong.

Vegetation in the Gardens

The sanctuary of the chthonic deities

The lively decorations of the temple

The Temple of Demeter

The Sanctuary of Asclepius: a place of welcome for the sick

Akragas in the beginning

The Temple of Asclepius

The most beautiful city of mortals

The Akragas building sites

Theron, tyrant of the arts and victories

The cult of Demeter and Persephone

From pagan cults to Christian worship: the Church of St. Gregory

The Kolymbetra Garden

Phalaris, the terrible tyrant

The Temple of Heracles

A monument for the victory over Carthage: the Temple of Olympian Zeus

Reinforcement of natural ramparts

The Eleusinian mysteries

Sacrifices for the goddesses that made the fields fertile

The Temple of Concordia

Empedocles, the political philosopher

The walls of Akragas in the fifth century BC

The Twelve Labours of Heracles

The Temple of Hera Lacinia