Everytime I think about the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) my mind wants to call it Valley of the Gods, or even Valley of the Giants. I suppose this says a lot about the impression this place had on me.
It’s relatively easy to get to the Valle dei Templi from Palermo There is a direct train to the city of Agrigento that takes just over 3 hours. It is a long journey, but incredibly scenic. Make sure you choose a sit by a window, and get ready to experience the serenity of the rolling Sicilian rural landscape. And if you really want to add some strong main chracter energy to this trip, put on some Italian opera on your earphones. I listened to a lot of Pavarotti. Yeah, I know, very basic. But I’m telling you… it went down terribly well. Almost driving me to tears, my skin in goosebumps.
Whilst the train journey is straight forward, the confusion will started at the destination, as I exited Agrigento’s train station. I knew there was a bus that takes you directly to the site. But of course, there are no indications whatsoever of where the bus is. I simply had to assume it was just in front of the little plaza, where a non-commiting bus stop stood, without any sort of information. Once again, the voice of my sicilian coworker came to mind when I said I was planning to do Sicily without a car… que simpatica, he said in a mellow, sort of sarcastic tone. The same you hear when people say… oh sweetie.
I wasn’t the only person confused. A chinese couple that had come on the same train was also bearing the same expression in their bewildered faces. At times like this, we often do need to rely on the kindness of strangers and, more often than not, the Universe sends these strangers my way.
This time the stranger was a local men with with a strange blonde hair. It was texture that intrigued me, almost like hay. I wondered if it was a wig… but why does my brain distracts me so, when important information is being given to me…? Seeing me, seeing the Chinese couple, and surely sensing we were tourists there for the Valle, he informed us the bus would be coming in about 5 minutes. He boarded the same bus and once again, thank you for that. Because it was also him that indicated we should get off, and I had to call the Chinese couple to let them know. This because the place is not obvious at all and, once again, there are no announcements on the bus. I’d be happy if the driver at least shouted in italian Valle dei Templi! so at least us tourists can know when to get off…. hand’t it been for the hay haired man, I would have missed the stop completely.
Once out, the question came – how the hell do I get back to Agrigento? I asked at reception, when buyng my ticket to the archaelogical site. There was a map in the counter and he told me where to exit the site to catch the right bus. And you guessed it… the map was not clear at all!
He proceeded to explain there are two exits of the site, and indicated which one would take me to the the right bus. the “right bus” would be the one taking me straight to Agrigento, in 20 minutes, same duration it had taken me to get there. But if I ended up exiting through the other path, I would be taking the scenic route… meaning it would likely take me an hour instead to get back to Agrigento. At that point, I could only hope the Greek Gods could give a solo traveller a little bit of a hand… Athena, please!
I decided to park this concern for the time being, and enjoy the site in itself. I was about to visit one of the most incredible remaining sites of the Greek civilization. These are the remnants of the ancient city of Akragas, which was founded in 580 BC, and it grew to become one of the last major Greek colonies and most affluent metropolis of the Magna Grecia (ancient Greece). This meant it was a desirable conquest for any rivals… and so the site was built in prominent rocky ridge serving as a natural defensie fortication for the city. Nowadays, it makes the visit even more gratifying with the stunning views to the sea.
The majority of the Doric temples were built during the Golden era – a time when Akragas reached its pinacle, acting as a hub for agriculture, textiles and trade, attracting prominent poets, artists and philosophers. The temples we can see today were built during this time, in the 5th century BC. When walking on this site, we are looking at columns standing for over 2,500 years, structures that are older than the Colliseum itself!
The city eventually did fall under roman occup[ation, and this is when it was named Agrigentum. The Romans were responsible for restoring several parts of the complex… but Sicily was never owned by a single empire for long. In the subsequent centuries, the site was influenced by the Byzantines, the Arabs adn the Norman occupations. Sadly, the christian conversion that ocurred in the 6th AD caused a lot of destruction and abandonment.
Still, there is still so much you can see – which speaks to the strenght of these structures, surviving invasions, wars, conversions, destruction, abandoment and weather. I was amazed, and I felt I was walking amonghst the houses of Giants, which is perhaps why my brain keeps tricking me everytime I want to say I visited the Valle dei templi.
It was a beautiful day of clear skies, a wonderful exception to my first days in Sicily, when rain and cold temperatures were prevalent.
Being there, sitting in the shadow of those majestic Doric columns, I tried to imagine life there all those years ago, a task that whilst not impossible, might seem pointless. At the Vale dei Templi though there is an emptiness asking to be filled with your imagination, and inner dwellings. Only the ruins, and the nature, and looking up, the sky, the clouds. If the ancient greeks were standing at that exact point, looking up, on a simiarly sunny day, they would have seen exactly the same. Seen the clouds passing, feeling the warmth of sunshine, the coolness of the breeze. Perhaps, like myself, they could be feeling a little melancholic too.
Whe we think about ancient civilizations, those people that lived so long ago, almost seem fictitious. We see them in our minds eye two dimensional. But they were people like we are now. Different lifestyle, different clothes, different language, lacking some of the technology we have in surplus now. But the feelings? Insecurity, fear, joy, sadness, anger, despondency… They had dreams, they loved, they hated, they also looked for purpose and meaning, thinking so deeply, and perhaps even more so than we do in these modern life
I would say Akragas, as many ancient cities, is very much alive through memories etched in evey single stone. Memories we cannot access – but we can relate to somehow. This is our history, a shared one, of our civilization. And if you look more closely, you’ll notice something very interesting… fossiles etched in the rock. Fossiles that tell the story of the same rocks you are standing on – when all of it was ocean plaque, underwater. So we’re not talking about a couple thousand years anymore, but instead about millions. Now… isn’t that mind blowing.
I’m pretty sure you want to know how did I get back to Agrigento to get the train back to Palermo. You might have guessed that I definitely took the wrong exit. I was really confused once again… I could not see any bus stop sign, but Google Maps insisted that was the way. I saw a patch of land where it seemed a bus could stop, so I crossed the road, thinking it made sense the bus would come from that direction. It was odd though… if the bus did come, I don’t know how it could see me, as there was curve on the road that made the whole thing very dangerous… there was no one to ask though and I had the thought that perhaps I would have to walk all the way back. Which would have taken me over an hour in roads that are not pedestrian friendly…
Once again the Universe sent me another kind strager. A local noticed this foreign woman standing in a random place and called me, motioning me to cross the road as the bus would come on that direction. That’s when I realised I was going to go for the long scenic route afterall. But honestly? I didn’t care. I had all the time as there are multiple trains a day returning to Palermo… as long as I got back to the city, that’s all that mattered.
Besides, the long scenic route allowed me to see more of the local area. What’s not to like?
Once back, I went to a restaurant just by the station I got myself a fantastic Tuna steak with a wonderful pistachio sauce. Eating like a Goddess… in a place where I had felt helped by something divine. This was at Pititto Ristorante.
Love, Nic
P.S: The links below are affiliate links. This means if you click through and decide to make a purchas eI may gaina. small commission. This is not sponsored and it’s based on my personal experience.
Where I stayed in Palermo: il Palchetto B&B di Charme e Design. Great location, stunning rooms. Book here.
The Winged Bone 