THE GREEK GODS OF SICILY

The Ancient Greeks began settling in the Mediterranean’s largest island around 750 BC. They called it Sikelia, after the Sikani and Sicel tribes that lived there.  They flourished, building numerous cities, all with temples to their Olympian gods.  The city of Akragas – now called Agrigento on the south coast – grew to a population of 200,000 by the 500s.  It was here that the Greeks built the most outstanding examples of monumental Greek architecture that still exist today.

Along a ridge outside the city, they erected temples to Zeus, Hera, Heracles (Hercules) and many others.  The one you see here the Romans called the Temple of Concordia (harmony), for by the time they showed up in the 200s, the Greek name was lost.  In the foreground lies a remnant of a bronze statue to one of the Greek gods – perhaps Apollo.  The glory that was Greece has been gone with winds of millennia. It can be a very emotional experience to be here.(Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #248 photo ©Jack Wheeler)