Temple of Hercules – Fallen Icarus loop from Agrigento Centrale

Hiking trails & Routes

Italy

Sicily

Agrigento

Temple of Hercules – Fallen Icarus loop from Agrigento Centrale

Moderate

4.4

(36)

315

hikers

Temple of Hercules – Fallen Icarus loop from Agrigento Centrale

03:18

11.6km

250m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 11, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

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2.71 km

Viewpoint

3.95 km

Temple of Castor and Pollux

Archaeological Site

4.51 km

Temple of Hercules

Highlight • Historical Site

Akragas was only 582 BC. It was founded in a second wave of Greek colonization, but soon developed into the second most important Greek polis in Sicily after Syracuse, particularly following the victory in the battle of Himera. This importance found its expression, among other things, in a series of monumental temples built during the 5th century BC. BC they were built along the southern walls on a ridge, which in archaeological jargon is called the "Neck of the Temples" (Italian: Collina dei Templi), but popularly (due to its position below the modern city of Agrigento) as "Valley the temple" (Italian: Valley of the Temples). The term "Valley of the Temples" is often used generically also for the entire archaeological site of Agrigento.

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5.08 km

Fallen Icarus

Highlight • Monument

Impressive appearance :D

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5.51 km

Byzantine Rock-Cut Tombs

Highlight • Historical Site

Some Byzantine burial caves can still be seen in the remains of the city wall.

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5.83 km

Temple of Juno, Valley of the Temples

Highlight • Historical Site

Definitely worth seeing if you're in the area. Ideally, go at off-peak times when there are no tourist buses.

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6.98 km

Villa Aurea

Highlight • Historical Site

The British officer and amateur archaeologist Alexander Hardcastle lived here from 1921. He financed the exploration of the temple complex.

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7.29 km

Cyclopedestrian Overpass

Highlight • Bridge

Serves its purpose

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7.34 km

Temple of Olympian Zeus (Tempio di Giove Olimpico)

Highlight • Historical Site

The ruins of the temple of Jupiter Olimpio (Zeus for the Greeks) are the testimony of one of the largest Doric temples of classical antiquity; unfortunately the area, probably already damaged in ancient times by earthquakes, was used as a quarry since the Middle Ages (the cava gigantum mentioned in archival documents) and in the 18th century for the construction of the Porto Empedocle pier.

According to the historian Diodorus Siculus, construction began immediately following the battle of Himera, the great victory of the Greek cities of Sicily over the Carthaginians, in 480 BC. Again, according to the historian, the construction of the temple was never completed, because it still had no roof at the time of the conquest of the city of Akragas by the Carthaginians in 406 BC.

The very original architectural building was placed on a gigantic rectangular platform, on which stood a base of five steps, the last of which was twice as high as the others, to form a sort of podium and isolate the temple from the surrounding environment .

The temple was enclosed by a wall enclosure, characterized on the outside by seven semi-columns of the Doric order on the short sides and fourteen on the long sides; to these corresponded, inside, as many rectangular semi-pillars. The hypothetical height of the semi-columns has been estimated at more than eighteen metres.

Outside, colossal figures of Giants (the Telamons), about eight meters high and caught in the act of supporting the entablature of the temple with the strength of their arms, were placed in the spaces between the semi-columns on shelves about eleven meters high.

Inside this very tall building - very similar to a fence - there was a completely original cell, as it had no roof, probably interpreted by Diodorus Siculus as a sign of the incompleteness of the construction. The coverage, in fact, was probably limited to the corridors around the cell.

The fronts were decorated to the east with sculptures depicting a struggle between the gods and the Giants (Gigantomachia) and to the west with the taking of Troy (Iliupersis).

The remains of the monumental rectangular altar are visible a short distance from the eastern front of the temple.
Source: parcodellavalledeitempli.it

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7.48 km

Altar of Zeus, Valley of the Temples

Highlight • Historical Site

Dating back to ancient pre-Christian times, the deities of Roman and Greek legends in particular have been preserved in the collective memory of people in Europe to this day. Over the course of history, artists have repeatedly redesigned them as motifs in paintings or as statues.
On this hiking highlight in the "Valley of the Temples", an archaeological excavation site with a wealth of shrines from antiquity, we come across an altar in honor of the father of the gods ZEUS, who towers over Mount Olympus - not just a high mountain in Greece, but in... According to ancient mythology, it was also the legendary seat of the gods.

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