10 Best Things to Do in Cinque Terre

Just four miles southeast of Agrigento’s center, the archaeological wonder of the Valley of the Temples is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that dates back to the 5th century BC. The most popular attraction in the region, viewing it is reason enough alone to make this city your base for at least a few days. It contains a series of remarkably well-preserved Doric temples, and tombs, with three temples in its eastern group standing together and illuminated after dark. The main reason they’ve managed to stay in near-perfect condition some 2,500 years after they were built is that the soft clay beneath them acts as a protective shock absorber for earthquakes. The most well-preserved is the Temple of Concordia, built around 425 BC in classical proportions. It ranks among the most perfect temples in the Greek world along with the Hephaisteion in Athens. Other temples are scattered among citrus and olive trees.

Located on the outskirts of Agrigento, this intriguing archaeological museum is one of the best in all of Sicily. It contains significant archaeological finds from the Agrigento and Caltanissetta provinces, dating from prehistoric through Roman times. They include ancient finds from the necropolis at Montelusa, the area’s oldest known graves, and from the ancient Greek city of Gela. Finds from the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages are included too. Some of the highlights include pottery from Italy and Athens, Greece that date from the 6th to 3rd centuries BC, a 5th-century BC Greek crater from Gela that depicts an Amazon battle, a marble statue of an ephebe dating from around 480 BC, and gargoyles with lion’s heads from multiple temples. It also includes a two-story room entirely devoted to the buildings of the massive temple of the Olympian Zeus. You’ll see one of the original 38 Atlas figures along with a model and reconstruction drawings.

Built in the late 13th century by the Chiaramonte family, one of Sicily’s most powerful noble families, Monastero di Santo Spirito sits at the top of a set of steps off Via Atenea. A gothic portal will bring you inside where you’ll see an enchanting garden in the cloister. Marvel at the façade of the Capitular Room which features a pointed arch portal and elegant double lancet windows. The monastery’s arches were built in the Chiaramontine style which embraces the artistic styles of the Swabians and Normans. Nuns still reside here today, meditating, praying, baking, and selling sweet treats based on recipes handed down through generations of nuns. That often includes dolci di mandorla (almond pastries), cuscusu (sweet couscous made with pistachios), and conchigliette (marzipan sweets shaped like a shell and stuffed with a pistachio paste). If you’d like to buy a few sweets, simply ring the doorbell and say ‘Vorrei comprare quiche dolce.’

At the eastern end of the over 1,150-foot-high Rupe Atenea (Rock of Athene), you’ll find the small Church of San Biagio. Standing on the site of the Temple of Demeter, which dates to the 5th century BC, it was built under Norman rule in the 12th century. By following a stairway you’ll reach what is the oldest known place of worship in Agrigento. The temple was built of local limestone while the building is of the Doric order. Foundations and parts of the north wall are still visible behind the apse while two round altars to the north are believed to have been used as sacrificial sites. Inside the altars, ritual vessels were discovered along archaeological to identify the shrine, including many votive offerings.  Behind a narrow chamber in the rocks are two caves with spring water directed through a number of basins to flow into the courtyard.

Favara’s Farm Cultural Park is a unique tourist attraction just five miles from Agrigento in Favara. The town was nearly abandoned until its center was transformed into an outdoor art gallery with installations, street murals, and sculptures, becoming Sicily’s most important and largest open-air exhibition of contemporary art. The deteriorating town center was saved, bringing new life to what was a depressed area to provide a venue for artists and a center for workshops, film screenings, talks, and a variety of other cultural events. A number of local elderly women who had refused to leave their homes are now living among the exhibition spaces which were converted from the abandoned houses. Much of the street art is fantastical or focused on politics, and you’ll see a variety of other works in wood, ceramic tile, and other mediums. Some of the old homes were turned into vintage shops, bars, and garden cafes.