Sicily Travel Guide: Selinunte Archaeological site - Beautiful Greek Temple Tour in Italy
The captivating archeological site of Selinunte on the South-Western coast of Sicily has some of the most impressive ruins you will find in Italy. It contains 5 temples centered on an acropolis that overlooks the sea. The massive Temple of Hera has been erected and is truly a site to see. The Acropolis is surrounded by the ruins of the Ancient Greek city, which was one of the most important Greek colonies in Sicily and once contained up to 30,000 people, excluding slaves.
We visited Selinunte while staying in Trapani. It was an easy day-trip with the drive taking about 1 1/2 hours each way. We made the visit in late July and it was hot! The site is spread out over 5km, so be sure to hire a driver to take you to each ruin in a golf cart.
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About us: We are Daniel, Robyn, Ava, Rose and Ella, and together we are The Go To Family. We love to travel! We also love food, exploring historical sites and, of course, doing loads of fun things together as a family.
In our videos, you will see me and Robyn tackle every obstacle that traveling with kids throws at us. We do traveling almost exactly the same way we did before having kids, it just takes a little bit more planning these days. The result, however, is simply more fun! It's also very rewarding to be able to show the kids new cultures and live new experiences with them at the same time. Our mission is to inspire other Millennials to travel with kids.
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Ancient Greeks in Italy and Sicily (Full documentary)
Ancient Greeks in Italy and Sicily. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, for various reasons, including demographic crises, the search for new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland, Greeks began to settle in southern Italy. They included settlements in Sicily and the middle and southern (but also northern) part of the Italian Peninsula. Many of the new Greek cities became very rich and powerful, like Parthenope/Neapolis (Νεάπολις, Naples, New City), Syracuse (Συράκουσαι), Acragas (Ἀκράγας), Sybaris (Σύβαρις) and Paestum (Ποσειδωνία). Other cities in Magna Graecia included Tarentum (Τάρας/Taranto), Epizephyrian Locri (Λοκροί Ἐπιζεφύριοι), Rhegium (Ῥήγιον), Croton (Κρότων), Thurii (Θούριοι), Elea (Ἐλέα), Nola (Νῶλα), Ancona (Ἀγκών), Syessa (Σύεσσα), Bari (Βάριον) and others. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the foot of Italy Magna Graecia (Latin for “Great Greece”), since it was so densely inhabited by the Greeks. Following the Pyrrhic War in the 3rd century BC, Magna Graecia was absorbed into the Roman Republic.
With this colonization, Greek culture was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the Ancient Greek language, its religious rites and its traditions of the independent polis. An original Hellenic civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the Chalcidean/Cumaean variety of the Greek alphabet, which was adopted by the Etruscans; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet in the world.
Today's Griko people (Greek: Γκρίκο, sometimes spelled Grico, Greco in Calabria, and also known as Grecanici) are an ethnic Greek community of Southern Italy. They are found principally in regions of Calabria (Province of Reggio Calabria) and Apulia (peninsula of Salento). The Griko are believed to be remnants of the once large Ancient and Medieval Greek communities of southern Italy (the old Magna Graecia region). Although most Greek inhabitants of Southern Italy have become entirely Italianized over the centuries, the Griko community has been able to preserve their original Greek identity, heritage, language and distinct culture (15% of the surnames in the province of Reggio di Calabria have a Greek origin), although exposure to mass media has progressively eroded their culture and language. The Griko people traditionally spoke the Griko language which is a form of the Greek language.
Modern DNA research confirms the genetic relation between Greeks and Southern Italians:
A study of chromosomal variation showed that the modern Greeks and Southern Italians have a common prehistoric genetic history, but also to a greater extent a historic one. The Southern Italians are largely Greek in origin.
(Francalacci P, Morelli L, Underhill P A, Lillie A S, Passariono G, Uselli A, 2003)
The closest population to Greeks are Italians and Tuscans, the low genetic distance between Greeks and Italians (the lowest in the fst table, -0.0001 fst) confirms once again that southern Italians are little more than Latin speaking Greeks.
(Tian et al, 2008)
“The genetic contribution of Greek chromosomes to the Sicilian gene pool is estimated to be about 37% whereas the contribution of North African populations is estimated to be around 6%. In particular, the presence of a modal haplotype coming from the southern Balkan Peninsula and of its one-step derivates associated to E3b1a2-V13, supports a common genetic heritage between Sicilians and Greeks. The estimate of Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor is about 2380 years before present, which broadly agrees with the archaeological traces of the Greek classic era. […] We found a homogenous distribution of the E3b1a2-V13 marker over the island, which suggests an impact of the Greek colonization so impressive as to create a uniform stratum across Sicily. The Hg E3b1a2-V13 is estimated to contribute to the Sicilian gene pool by a fraction reaching 37%.”
(Di Gaetano; et al. [2008], Differential Greek and northern African migrations to Sicily are supported by genetic evidence from the Y chromosome, European Journal of Human Genetics 17 , )
Ancient Sicily & the Valley of Temples
During the 4th Century BC, Sicily was the new Greece of the west. Our journey will take us to the various cultural centers that dotted the island, such as Syracuse, Agrigento, with the exquisite Valley of the Temples, and Selinus, present-day Selenunte.
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 term valley is a misnomer, the site being located on a ridge outside the town of Agrigento.
This temple was constructed on a mostly artificial spur. It dates to c. 450 BC, measuring 38.15 x 16.90 m: it is in Doric style, peripteros 6 columns wide by 13 long, preceded by a pronaos and opisthodomos. The basement has four steps.
Current remains (including anastylosis from the 18th Century onwards) consist of the front colonnade with parts of the architrave and of the frieze. Only fragments of the other three sides survive, with few elements of the cella. The building was damaged in the fire of 406 BC and restored in Roman times, with the substitution of clay marble roof tiles with ones and the addition of a steep rise in the area where today can be seen the remains of the altar.
Nearby are arcosolia and other sepultures from Byzantine times, belonging to the late 6th century AD renovation of the Temple of Concordia into a Christian church.
Greek Temples - Agrigento, Sicily, Italy
Greek temple ruins in Agrigento, Sicily, Part of the Rothweiler World Tour
Ancient Greek Temples (part 3)
The 3rd video in the trilogy, presents the Ancient Greek Temples of Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily.
The region is known as the Magna Grecia
Tour of the Valley of Temples, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. Historic Greek Archaeological Ruins.
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The rediscovery of Akragas began towards the end of the eighteenth century, when the first European travellers reached Sicily, discovering an unexpected and immense artistic, archaeological heritage.
In a almost enchanted valley, full of almond trees in bloom, it is the most impressive group of monuments of all of Magna Greece. The unique charm of this site is in this blend of cultural environment and natural landscape.
The Valley of the Temples is certainly the most important testimony of the ancient, classical culture of Sicily. It brings together the temples of gods goddesses as well as the area of the necropolis and sanctuaries outside the walls.
Tempio dei Discuri
Tempio dei Dioscuri
The temple of Castor and Pollux (Dioscuri), the legendary twin brothers, born from the union of Jupiter and the queen of Sparta, nowadays has only four columns left and has become the symbol of Agrigento.
Tempio di Zeus
Tempio di Zeus
The temple of Olympian Zeus (Jupiter) was built to thank Zeus on the occasion of the Agrigentines’ victory over the Carthaginians, in 480 BC . Here are the famous atlases, some gigantic statues with human shape, once used as columns o pilasters.
Tempio della Concordia - Scalia
Tempio della Concordia – Scalia
The temple of Concordia, also built around the 5th century, is located along the via Sacra and is among the best preserved temples. In the sixth century it was transformed into a sacred building. The name Concordia comes from a Latin inscription found near the temple itself.
Tempio di Eracle (Ercole)
Tempio di Eracle (Ercole)
The temple of Heracles (Hercules) is the oldest one. Inside it kept a bronze statue of Hercules himself, which the Akragantines loved very much. The temple, destroyed by war and natural disasters, today has only eight columns left
The temple of Aesculapius was built far outside the ancient walls of the city, a place of pilgrimage for the sick who asked to be healed. The walls of the temple were covered by the words of the sick who obtained healing.
The tomb of Theron, near the Golden Gate, is an imposing pyramidal monument made of tuff stone. It was built in memory of the fallen of the Second Punic War.
The temple of Vulcano whose remains make us suppose it once was an imposing building, dates back to the fifth century. In its foundations, the remains of an archaic temple were found.
Tempio di Giunone Lacinia - Sandro Scalia
Tempio di Giunone Lacinia – Sandro Scalia
The temple of Juno (Hera Lakinia) – Its name, like that of the nearby Temple of Concordia, is conventional as a result of a wrong interpretation of a Latin inscription that aligns it with the temple of Hera, in Crotone. Placed spectacularly in the easternmost part of this magical hillside, it housed the cult of the goddess of fertility. The traces of fire, amazingly still visible in the walls of the cell, remind us of 406 B.C. when this magnificent temple, almost identical to that of Concordia, was destroyed by the Carthaginians. Nearby, there is also a clearly visible big altar for sacrifices (in the East side) and a section of street deeply furrowed by carts coming from the city’s “Gate III”.
Paestum: Greek Ruins in Italy
Three well-preserved Greek temples, located in the small town of Paestum, near Salerno, Italy. The site was discovered in the 18th century and boasts the only well-preserved Greek ruins north of Sicily. The temples are situated in an open field, along with Roman ruins. A museum and a few commercial shops are nearby. Photographs by Gary and Lynette Taylor, taken in October 2012. Notice, there's hardly anyone there. Music: Clear Air by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com
Paestum, Italy: Ancient Greek Temples
More info about travel to Italy: Paestum, just south of Italy's Amalfi Coast, was founded by Greeks in the sixth century B.C. Visitors to Paestum can see the remains of three impressive temples: the Temple of Ceres, the Temple of Hera, and the Temple of Neptune.
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Greek Temple of Concordia, Agrigento (Italy)
Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily. December 2011.
Greek Temples in Italy Paestum 2018
Here in Italy believe it or not they actually do have Greek temples. Here at this site in Paestum, just south of Salerno or Naples there is Greek temples dedicated to Poseidon and Neptune also Zeus wife Hara.
History Of Greek Colonies In Sicily
In the first millennium BCE, Greek city-states began to look beyond Greece for new resources, and so they founded colonies across the Mediterranean. One important consequence of this process, was the spreading of the Greek way of life far away to Spain, France, Italy, the Adriatic, the Black Sea, and North Africa.
The establishment of colonies across the Mediterranean permitted the export of luxury goods. Some colonies even managed to rival the greatest homeland cities... Syracuse, for example, eventually became the largest polis in the entire Greek world.
Greek cities were attracted by the land, natural resources, and harbours of southern Italy and Sicily. The Greek colonists subdued the local population and influenced them to such an extent that they called it 'Greater Greece' or Megalē Hellas, and it became the most 'Greek' of all the colonized territories, both in terms of culture and the urban landscape.
The location of these new colonies in the centre of the Mediterranean meant they could prosper as trade centres between the major cultures of the time: the Greek, Etruscan, and Phoenician civilizations.
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Ancient Greek temples at Paestum, Italy
Ancient Greek Temples at Paestum: Hera I, c. 560-530 B.C.E., Archaic Period; Hera II, c. 460 B.C.E., Classical Period; Temple of Minerva, c. 500 B.C.E. Archaic Period. A conversation with Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
The BEST SIGHTS in SICILY? Exploring Valley of the Temples -- Agrigento, Sicily, Italy // 156
Behold! The most majestic ruins I've seen in Europe so far. The Valley of the Temples (Valle dei Templi) in Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, are much more spectacular than I expected. Honestly, I was getting a little bored with ruins in Italy, but I was told I must visit Agrigento.
I'm so glad I listened to those who urged me to go! Agrigento's (formerly Akragas, a Greek city in southern Sicily) ruins of the Valley of the Temples are huge with plaques throughout the miles-wide park explaining the importance of the structures you see. I heard Rick Steves say that if you want to see Greek ruins, go to Sicily! In Agrigento, you can see the outstanding Valle dei Templi and begin to truly appreciate Sicily's rich and diverse history.
If asked What are the best sights in Sicily? I'd immediately respond with Agrigento on the list. The Valley of the Temples is not just a must-see, it's easily one of the best sights in Sicily.
Valle dei Templi, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italia
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Here you'll find my honest experience of traveling Europe for a year on a budget!
In June 2017, I quit my job to travel around the world. Without much savings, I was destined to be a backpacking budget traveler. This is my budget travel trip through Europe! All I've got is myself, and a carry-on backpack, and determination.
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Agrigento Temple of Zeus in Valley of the Temples, Sicily Italy.
Temple of Olympian Zeus in the Valley of Temples in Agrigento is an incomplete Doric Temple. Lying on the ground is an 8m tall Telamon, a figure of a man with arms raised to support the weight of the temple. Background music is Morning Walk by Jingle punks.
Agrigento Temple of Concordia Valley of Temples, Sicily Italy
Temple of Concordia is located in the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, Sicily Italy. It is a Greek Temple constructed in 430BC and is still mostly intact. Alongside it is an 800 year old olive tree and winged bronze statue. Background music is Satin Sugar by Huma Huma.
Greek ruins BC in Sicily
Greek amphitheater BC in Sicily, October 2012
Can't believe this is Italy! Tour of The Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily
Today we go on a tour of The Valley of the Temples (Valle dei Tempi) in Agrigento, Sicily. Subscribe for more videos:
Who knew that Italy had so many well-kept Greek Temples? Well ok, some people like Rick Steves maybe, but I always thought you could only see this kind of scene in Greece - glad I was wrong! Agrigento is the site of Ancient Greek city called Akragas (notice the similarities?) and The Valley of the Temples contains some of the most beautiful and best kept Greek Temples outside of Greece, for which reason is surely worth a visit if you are ever in Sicily or love everything Greece related. It is a World Heritage Site for a reason after all!
The whole town of Agrigento is something truly unique when experienced for the first time - The Valley of the Temples, which is actually a ridge and not a valley but try hyping up The Ridge of the Temples? Yeah, not as sexy... Anyhow, the Valley overlooks the perched town of the Agrigento, which itself takes on a yellowish-brown colour that matches the loess coloured soil and adds the perfect element to make the whole scene feel surreal. Honestly, I thought of Egypt when I first heard the name Valley of the Temples, and the nature surrounding the area does absolutely nothing to displace the feeling of grandeur elicited by such thoughts - it delivers the magic!
During our tour, we started off by visiting the Temple of Hera (or Juno in Roman mythology), who of course was the wife of Zeus. Built in 450 BC, parts of the temple were damaged by fire in 406 BC and restored during Roman times. The temple really looks to be in very good shape, and according to our tour guide a lot of this had to do with its Doric style that is better suited to combat earthquakes.
We then see what the fortifications look like - which were basically directly carved out from a mountain! Crazy! And if that wasn't crazy enough, we then learned that tombs, called arcosolia (pl. of arcosolium), were also carved out from the mountains there. I can't even imagine how you would do that...
We then stopped for a little snack to refuel and chat with a friendly passer-by, to then get to the Temple of Concordia. This Temple is incredibly well-preserved, and a real treat to explore, and also one of the most notable example of Ancient Greek buildings existing anywhere today. A reason for why it was so well-kept can be attributed to its conversion into a Christian church.
They also have Girgentana goats on the premisses brought to Sicily and Agrigento all the way from Afghanistan in the 4th century BC!
We then explored the Temple of Olympian Zeus, but sadly this temple was more or less destroyed. We also saw one of the atlas giants in the Olympeion field before finally taking the train back to the start.
The set up in the Valley of the Temples is really neat - a narrow road basically connects all the sites, which makes it incredibly easy and convenient to explore. So you can walk it one way and then just simply take the train on your way back.
Our tour guide was Sergio Bruccato. He was very insightful and kept us interested and engaged the whole time. Highly recommended if you are ever in town and consider doing the Valley of the Temples (which will likely be THE reason why you are in town anyways). Here's his contact info:
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About us: We are Daniel, Robyn, Ava, Rose and Ella, and together we are The Go To Family. We love to travel! We also love food, exploring historical sites and, of course, doing loads of fun things together as a family.
In our videos, you will see me and Robyn tackle every obstacle that traveling with kids throws at us. We do traveling almost exactly the same way we did before having kids, it just takes a little bit more planning these days. The result, however, is simply more fun! It's also very rewarding to be able to show the kids new cultures and live new experiences with them at the same time. Our mission is to inspire other Millennials to travel with kids.
Our 7-year-old daughter, Ava, also has her own YouTube channel. Feel free to check it out right here:
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Any comments, questions or complaints? Just send us an email!
Cheers and have a wonderful day!
TheGoToFamily
Sicily: Top Ancient Sights with Sarah Murdoch | Rick Steves Travel Talks
In antiquity, Sicily was part of Magna Graecia — Greater Greece. And today, Sicily has some of the best ancient ruins outside of Greece. In this travel talk, Rick Steves' Europe tour guide and co-author Sarah Murdoch explains the stunning Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, and the remarkably well-preserved mosaics of Villa Romana del Casale.
Planning a trip to Sicily? You’ll find lots of free travel information at
This video is an excerpt from a full-length, one-hour Sicily talk. You can watch the entire talk here:
Or you can watch the other chapters from this talk:
Palermo:
Trapani & Sicily's West Coast:
Ragusa & Siracusa:
Mount Etna, Taormina & Northeastern Sicily:
Written and Presented by Sarah Murdoch
Produced by Cameron Hewitt
Filmed and Edited by Zen Wolfang
Photography by Sarah Murdoch, Cameron Hewitt, Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli, and others
Graphics by Heather Locke and Rhonda Pelikan
© 2018 Rick Steves' Europe, Inc.
ricksteves.com
Douglas Kenning of Sicily Tour speaking of Greek temples
Sicily Tour is a Siracusa-based tour guiding company that specializes in small group tours of historic and mythic Sicily, as well as select other places in Italy and the greater Mediterranean.
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Roman Temples VS Greek Temples - Understanding The Differences
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture... only a few survive in any sort of complete state.
The most common architectural plan had a rectangular temple raised on a high podium, with a clear front with a portico at the top of steps, and a triangular pediment above columns.
Public religious ceremonies of the official Roman religion took place outdoors.
Some remains of many Roman temples survive but the relatively few near-complete examples were nearly all converted to Christian churches.
Greek temples interiors too did not serve as meeting places, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them.
Greek temples were designed and constructed according to set proportions, mostly determined by the lower diameter of the columns or by the dimensions of the foundation levels. The nearly mathematical strictness of the basic designs thus reached was lightened by optical refinements.
In spite of the still widespread idealised image, Greek temples were painted - bright reds and blues contrasted with the white of the building stones or of stucco. The more elaborate temples were equipped with very rich figural decoration in the form of reliefs and pedimental sculpture.
Canonical Greek temples maintained the same basic structure throughout many centuries. The Greeks used a limited number of spatial components, influencing the plan, and of architectural members, determining the elevation.
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