Agrigento
(Redirected from Akragas)
| Comune di Agrigento |
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Municipal coat of arms |
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| Country |  Italy |
| Region |  Sicily |
| Province | Agrigento (AG) |
| Mayor | |
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| Elevation | 230 m |
| Area | 244 km² |
| Population | |
| - Total (as of 2004) | 59,031 |
| - Density | 217/km² |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | 37°19′N 13°35′E |
| Gentilic | Agrigentine, Girgintan |
| Dialing code | 0922 |
| Postal code | 92100 |
| Frazioni | Fontanelle, Giardina Gallotti, Monserrato, Montaperto, San Leone, Villaggio La Loggia, Villaggio Mosè, Villaggio Peruzzo, Villaseta |
| Patron | St. Gerlando |
| - Day | 24 February |
| Website: www.comune.agrigento.it |
Agrigento (Girgenti in Sicilian, former official name) is the name of a town on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, capital of the province of Agrigento. It is located at on a hill overlooking the sea. The city is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragras (also Acragas, Agrigentum in Latin, Kerkent in Arabic), one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia.
History
The city was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582 BCE-580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it Akragas. The meaning of the word is unclear, though various explanations were advanced for it, such as that it referred to a legendary founder, Akragante; however, these were probably retrospective explanations of an obscure name.
Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia. It came to prominence under the tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century BCE.
The city was sacked by both the Romans and the Carthaginians in the 3rd century BCE – the Romans in 262 BCE and the Carthaginians in 255 BCE. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218 BCE-201 BCE) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 BCE and renamed it Agrigentum, although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city passed into the hands of the Byzantine Empire. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved up to the former acropolis, at the top of the hill. The reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens, Berbers and other peoples around this time. In 828 CE the Saracens captured the diminished remnant of the city and renamed it Kerkent in Arabic; it was thus Sicilianized as "Girgenti". It retained this name until 1927, when Mussolini's government reintroduced an Italianized version of the Latin name.
Agrigento was captured by the Normans under Count Roger I in 1087, who established a Latin bishopric there. The population declined during much of the medieval period but revived somewhat after the 18th century. In 1860, the inhabitants enthusiastically supported Giuseppe Garibaldi in his campaign to unify Italy (the Risorgimento). The city suffered a number of destructive bombing raids during the Second World War.
Economy
Agrigento is a major tourist center due to its extraordinarily rich archaeological legacy. It also serves as an agricultural centre for the surrounding region. Sulphur and potash have been mined locally since Roman times and are exported from the nearby harbour of Porto Empedocle (named after the philosopher Empedocles who lived in ancient Akragas). However, it is one of the poorest towns in Italy on a per capita income basis and has a long-standing problem with organised crime, particularly involving the Mafia and the smuggling of illegal drugs.
Main sights
Ancient Akragas covers a huge area – much of which is still unexcavated today – but is exemplified by the famous "Valley of the Temples" (actually a misnomer, as it is a ridge, rather than a valley). This comprises a large sacred area on the south side of the ancient city where seven monumental Greek temples in the Doric style were constructed during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Now excavated and partially restored, they constitute some of the largest and best preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. They are listed as a World Heritage Site.
The best preserved of the temples are two very similar buildings traditionally attributed to the goddesses Juno Lacinia and Concordia (though archaeologists believe this attribution to be incorrect). The latter temple is remarkably intact, due to its having been converted into a Christian church in 597 CE. Both were constructed to a peripteral hexastyle design. The area around the Temple of Concordia was later re-used by early Christians as a catacomb, with tombs hewn out of the rocky cliffs and outcrops.
The other temples are much more fragmentary, having been toppled by earthquakes long ago and quarried for their stones. The largest by far is the Temple of Olympian Zeus, built to commemorate the Battle of Himera (480 BC) and believed to have been the largest Doric temple ever built. Although it was apparently used, it appears to have never been completed and construction work was abandoned after the Cathaginian invasion of 406 BC. The remains of the temple were extensively quarried in the 18th century to build the jetties of Porto Empedocle. Temples dedicated to Hephaestus, Hercules and Asclepius were also constructed in the sacred area, which includes a sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone (formerly known as the Temple of Castor and Pollux); the marks of the fires set by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE can still be seen on the sanctuary's stones.
Many other Hellenistic and Roman sites can be found in and around the town. These include a pre-Hellenic cave sanctuary near a Temple of Demeter, underlying the Church of San Biagio. A late Hellenic funerary monument erroneously labelled the "Tomb of Theron" is situated just outside the sacred area, and a 1st century CE heroon (heroic shrine) adjoins the 13th-century Church of San Nicola a short distance to the north. A sizeable area of the Greco-Roman town has also been excavated and several classical necropolises and quarries are still extant.
Much of present-day Agrigento is modern but it still retains a number of medieval and Baroque buildings. These include the 14th century cathedral and the 13th century Church of Santa Maria dei Greci, standing on the site of an ancient Greek temple (hence the name). The town also has a notable archaeological museum displaying finds from the ancient city.
Famous inhabitants
Sister cities
References
- "Acragas" The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996.
- "Agrigento", The Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press, 2004
- "Agrigento" Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. John Everett-Heath. Oxford University Press 2005
- "Agrigento" Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006
External links
See also
Categories
Municipalities of the Province of Agrigento | World Heritage Sites in Italy | Archaeological sites in Sicily | 580s BC establishments
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