A beautiful small town, founded by the ancient Greeks, made famous by the ruins of the Temples they left behind. Some of the ruins have been reconstructed or partially reconstructed having been tumbled by earthquakes or blown up in wars. We strolled the ruins of five or six temples with our guide, Lorenzo.  When built, they were covered with stucco to resemble marble. Lorenzo claimed they were, in their day, gleaming red, white and blue and could be seen from miles off when approached by sea.

Speaking of guides, Lorenzo was quite a character. Dark hair, olive skinned, Roman nose, about 5’8″, he proclaimed himself a world traveller, ticking off the countries where he had lived or visited. But Agrigento is his home, and that is where he settled.  I immediately pegged him as a mama’s boy since he told us his age (45) with no mention of wife or partner.  And I was right – his mother even called during the tour, a call he took with many apologies. Effusive does not begin to describe this guy — he thanked Ira so much for bestowing upon him the great honor of “sharing” family history that I thought he might die of ecstasy right there. I kept the eye roll to myself.

 Having heard many Ben  Franklin wannabes with tour groups in Society Hill spouting “facts” that seem a bit shady I do not always fully believe guides.  But Lorenzo got it mostly right, I think – the area settled by Greeks with other groups conquering the region — Romans, Normans, etc.  Not sure about the colors of the temple gleaming from 26 miles away, ditto some bizarre tale about two towers for protection – one designed for left handed soldiers, the other for right.  But it made a good story. 

Of great interest was the Temple of Zeus, the roof had been supported by statues of Atlas in his perpetual labor of shouldering the earth.  One was reassembled on the grounds.  Our dessert the night before was an exact mini-replica made of pistachio mousse, I think, and some other delicious stuff.  We did not understand the significance of the presentation at the time.  Artfully done.

Cool view of the ruins from our hotel room.