Valle dei Templi

The Valle dei Templi (English: Valley of the Temples; Sicilian: Vaddi di li Tempri) is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient Greek Akragas), Sicily, southern Italy.
It is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy.
The area was included in the UNESCO Heritage Site list in 1997.
Much of the excavation and restoration of the temples was due to the efforts of archaeologist Domenico Antonio Lo Faso Pietrasanta (1783–1863), who was the Duke of Serradifalco from 1809 through 1812.
The archaeological park and landscape of the Valley of the Temples is the largest archaeological site in the world with 1,300 hectares.

The Valley includes remains of seven temples, all in Doric style.
The ascription of the names, apart from that of the Olympeion, are a mere tradition established in Renaissance times. The temples are:

• Temple of Concordia, whose name comes from a Latin inscription found nearby, and which was built in the 5th century BC. Turned into a church in the 6th century AD, it is now one of the best preserved in the Valley.
• Temple of Juno, also built in the 5th century BC. It was burnt in 406 BC by the Carthaginians.
• Temple of Heracles, who was one of the most venerated deities in the ancient Akragas. It is the most ancient in the Valley: destroyed by an earthquake, it consists today of only eight columns.
• Temple of Olympian Zeus, built in 480 BC to celebrate the city-state's victory over Carthage. It is characterized by the use of large scale atlases.
• Temple of Castor and Pollux. Despite its remains including only four columns, it is now the symbol of modern Agrigento.
• Temple of Vulcan, also dating from the 5th century BC. It is thought to have been one of the most imposing constructions in the valley; it is now however one of the most eroded.

The Valley is also home to the so-called Tomb of Theron, a large tuff monument of pyramidal shape; scholars suppose it was built to commemorate the Romans killed in the Second Punic War.