Holiday apartment in Agrigento: Temples, nature and Pirandello

The Archaeological Area of Agrigento preserves the site of a Greek colony founded in the 6th century BC. The Valley of the Temples contains the most important Doric temples on the sacred hill of the ancient city; the area extends to the necropolis located outside the city walls. Agrigento thus combines impressive evidence of antiquity with natural areas and literary traces.

Culture

Ancient history is presented in great breadth at the Museo Archeologico Regionale Pietro Griffo. It displays 5,688 archaeological finds, arranged chronologically and topographically, illustrating the history of the Agrigento area from prehistory to the end of the Greco-Roman period. A later chapter of the city’s cultural history is opened by the Teatro Pirandello, which opened to the public in 1880. Its ceiling and the fronts of the boxes feature decoration created by renowned 19th-century painters.

Luigi Pirandello is also present at several locations. The Casa Museo Pirandello displays personal belongings, photographs, awards, reviews, letters, manuscripts, first editions with handwritten dedications and posters for the writer’s well-known works. Guided literary tours to places, landscapes, events and people from Luigi Pirandello’s life and work begin there. As part of the Arkeo&Fede project, four Hellenistic-Roman sarcophagi are also displayed in the cathedral’s exhibition rooms. Luigi Pirandello’s birthplace is located in the rural Contrada known as “Caos”, on the cliff coast between the municipal area of Agrigento (4 km) and Porto Empedocle.

Nature

In the Parco Valle dei Templi, the Giardino della Kolymbethra is located in the area of the Temple of the Dioscuri in Agrigento. The garden is a FAI heritage site open to the public. For the visit, an additional 40-minute guided tour of the hypogea in small groups of six people is available. It includes an introduction, preparation and equipment, as well as an approximately 20-minute tour of the hypogeum with staff from the Associazione Agrigento Sotterranea.

The Riserva Naturale Torre Salsa is an oriented nature reserve in Siculiana in the province of Agrigento and covers 761.62 hectares. Narrow paths lead through vegetation and rocks to a beach with preserved coastal dune vegetation. The beaches and coastal dunes serve as nesting sites for the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta; in the Pantano, visitors can observe the endemic Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris.

Routes

Visitor information for the Giardino della Kolymbethra lists travel options including a train journey from Palermo or Caltanissetta to Agrigento, followed by a bus ride to the Valle dei Templi. It also mentions scheduled buses from the Piazzale Rosselli bus station. In the province of Agrigento, the Itinerarium Rosaliae begins at the Eremo di Santo Stefano di Quisquina. It crosses the Parco dei Monti Sicani, nature reserves and other natural areas along a route of approximately 187 km through 15 municipalities.

The Itinerarium Rosaliae can be travelled on foot, by bicycle or on horseback. Its route follows royal surveying roads, mule tracks, hiking trails and disused railway lines. This regional route therefore combines different forms of transport with changing historical and natural path structures.

Events

The 2026 edition of Mandorlo in Fiore was scheduled to take place in Agrigento from 7 to 15 March and included performances, music, dances, entertainment and gastronomic initiatives. Together with the 68th International Folklore Festival and the 23rd International Festival “I Bambini del Mondo”, it was combined into a joint event as the 78th Mandorlo in Fiore.

Cuisine

Cafés and pastry shops in Agrigento serve gelato pecorino, a delicate ice cream made from sheep’s-milk ricotta. It is regarded as a typical and unique specialty of the Agrigento area.

Other places:Agrigento, Porto Empedocle, Realmonte, Licata, Menfi, Porto Palo Di Menfi, Raffadali, Ribera, Sciacca, Siculiana, Casteltermini, Bivona, Canicattì, San Leone, Siculiana Marina, Cianciana, Santa Margherita Di Belice, Favara, Montevago, Campobello Di Licata, Alessandria Della Rocca, Sambuca Di Sicilia, Aragona, Palma Di Montechiaro, Borgo Bonsignore, Racalmuto, Montallegro, Castrofilippo, Caltabellotta, Borsellino, Montaperto, Cammarata, Villaggio Mosè, Santo Stefano Quisquina, Naro, Cattolica Eraclea, Lampedusa, Fiumenaro, Sant'anna, Villaggio Pirandello, Burgio, Villaseta, Sant'angelo Muxaro, Ravanusa, Joppolo Giancaxio, Grotte, Località Maragani, Lampedusa e Linosa, Zingarello, San Biagio Platani, Contrada Fiori Sud, Torre di Gaffe, Eraclea Minoa, Lucca Sicula.

To the higher-level travel overview: Sicily.