Page 437 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

GETTING AROUND: AGRIGENTO AND THE SOUTHWEST

By public transport Agrigento is connected by bus with most major Sicilian cities,
and as ever, buses are usually far quicker than trains. However, as many buses are
timed to bring kids to school in the towns in the early mornings, and return them at

2pm, you may end up spending nights in one-horse villages if you rely on them. The
nearest airport to Agrigento is Catania, a 3hr journey by bus, around 2hr if you’re
driving. Regular trains and buses link the coastal towns and villages, though services
to the inland towns are less frequent.

Agrigento and the Valle dei Templi

No one comes to AGRIGENTO for the town, though its worn medieval streets and

buildings soak up the thousands of tourists who come every year to marvel at the Valle
dei Templi. The substantial remains of Akragas, Pindar’s “most beautiful city of
mortals”, these Doric temples strung along a ridge facing the sea, a couple of
kilometres below town, are the most captivating of Sicilian Greek remains, unique
outside Greece. This is a big and very beautiful site, and it is a shame to see it (as
most tourists do) in a single day. Take it easy, with time to sit around and relax among

the ruins or in the shade of a tree, and you’ll enjoy it all the more. And if your visit
coincides with the summer night-time opening of the three main temples, you’re in for
a truly magical experience.

Agrigento

Despite (or perhaps because of) the undoubted pulling power of the temples which

fills the town with tourists for much of the year, AGRIGENTO has little sense of
identity. Although it retains a historical core of a certain charm, ugly modern suburbs
and road viaducts on the coast below lack all sense of proportion and are creeping
ever closer to the temples themselves. Meanwhile, government statistics show
Agrigento to be one of Italy’s poorest towns. Consequently it comes as no surprise to

learn that the Mafia has an undue local influence.