Agrigento is a small town on the south coast of Sicily. The beach is good and the small streets of the old town are charming, but what brings you here are the Greek temples just outside of town.
The Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) is one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. The temples date from the 5th century BC, when Akragas was one of the wealthiest cities in the Greek world. The Temple of Concordia, glowing golden in the late afternoon light, is among the best-preserved Greek temples anywhere. The Temple of Zeus — begun to celebrate a great military victory and never finished — shows just how ambitious the city was.
Beyond the temples, Agrigento has the Kolymbetra Garden, an ancient reservoir turned Arab orchard inside the archaeological park, and the Regional Archaeological Museum, which houses the best of the excavation finds. The old town around Via Atenea has its own medieval character, and the Agrigento Cathedral at the top of the hill offers good views. The port of Porto Empedocle below the town was the birthplace of Luigi Pirandello; his house is now a museum.