The Valley of the Temples

We arrive in Agrigento and find the Valley of the Temples. Immediately Brady begins crying, wanting to ride on Greg’s shoulders. Here we are in a huge open area, rocks covering the ground, no cars allowed, free to run and play, and our son wants to ride on shoulders. This was a very good indication on how the rest of the day was going to go, but we had too much invested to turn back now. Besides, we don’t generally let our kids rule the day. After buying a guide book written by Giuseppe Di Giovanni entitled The Valley of the Temples, The most sacred valley in the world, we forge ahead up to the first temple.


The Temple of Hera Lacinia

According to our book, this temple was a place where newlywed couples “after a purifying bath in the river Agrakas, used to offer Hera Pronuba, the protector of marriage, a ewe lamb which had had both its bile and its other entrails removed as a symbol of their lasting love.” The couple would later return thanking the goddess and “offering the bride’s belt as it became too tight when the bride was expecting.” The temple is dated about 450-440 BC, firestains can still be seen from the pillage by the Carthaginians in 406 BC, and it was declared a national monument in 1748.

Temple of Concord

The architecture of this temple dates to circa 430 BC. It was “conceived as the habitation of a god… it was the true abode of the divinity, who was venerated here in the form of a statue.” At this temple, people would leave their money and treasures, while others sought refuge. Like all temples, it faces the east because the image of the god had to “watch the sunrise, symbolizing light and life- never the sunset which stood for night and death.” Giovanni states that “in 597 this temple was converted into a Christian basilica by Bishop Gregorio. He destroyed two pagan idols in the temple, and since the name of one of them was Raps, the new church was dedicated to Saint Gregorio delle Rape.”

Temple of Heracles

We didn’t take any pictures of these ruins. There are only a few columns left standing when it is said to have been “one of the most beautiful in all antiquity.” Heracles was the national hero of Sicily and Agrigentans “used to invoke Heracles against nightmares and deceptive dreams.”

The Temple of Olympian Zeus

Again, we didn’t get any pictures of the remains of this temple, and I’m not exactly sure what we would have taken. Unfortunately, this temple is now just a pile of rocks. The one interesting carving we saw was that of a man with his arms lifted above his head. Perhaps these were used as supporting structures for the roof. Interestingly I have conflicting information about this temple. Our guidebook says the temple was built to “give thanks for their (the Agrigentans) victory over the Carthaginians at Himera in 480-479 BC.” However, our book The Rough Guide to Sicily suggests that the temple was the “largest Doric temple ever known, it was never completed, left in ruins by the Carthaginians and further damaged by earthquakes and the removal of stone to build the port of Porto Empedocle to the south.”
                              
Arch-shaped bysantin tombs excavated in the city wall



                                         Greek Road
                     
                                                 
The weather was perfect, Juliette loved running around, and Brady did not. Towards the end of the afternoon, after hearing much complaining from Brady about wanting to go home, Greg had to have a heart to heart with the boy. Greg explained to Brady that he was a lucky little boy to be able to see and do the things he is seeing and doing. There are people who would give anything to be where we are and one day Brady will be able to tell his little boy about being here. He would look back and wish he was back at the Valley of the Temples. One day he will wish he had appreciated it!

                     Juliette loved trying to pull the lights off the wall, regardless, it was a sweet moment!


We decided to take a longer way home along the coast and about an hour in Juliette started crying. I was trying to get her to eat and play with toys, we even stopped and changed her diaper. Nothing worked. Convinced she was starving, we stopped at a little restaurant on base. We piled into the place and realized that she had some serious issues going on in her diaper. Of course there was no changing table, so I laid her on the floor of the arcade. I’m so glad some poor single sailor didn’t walk in! He would have been scarred for life! The mess was handled, but her jeans didn’t make it out alive. In the highchair, wrapped in my jacket, turns out she wasn’t hungry at all! From the drive on the closed road to the exploded diaper, it’s all just another day in the Traveling White Picket Fence!