Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily. The Valley of the
Temples is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater
Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions
of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy. The area was
included in the UNESCO Heritage Site list in 1997. This temple
was constructed on a mostly artificial spur. It dates to c. 450
BC, measuring 38.15 x 16.90 m: it is in Doric style, peripteros
6 columns wide by 13 long, preceded by a pronaos and
opisthodomos. The basement has four steps. Current remains
consist of the front colonnade with parts of the architrave and
of the frieze. Only fragments of the other three sides survive,
with few elements of the cella. The building was damaged in the
fire of 406 BC and restored in Roman times, with the
substitution of clay marble roof tiles with ones and the
addition of a steep rise in the area where today can be seen the
remains of the altar.