Listed 7 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for destination: "AKRAGAS Ancient city SICILY".
Region: Sicily
Periods: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman
Type: Fortified city
Summary: One of the most prosperous of the Greek cities of Sicily
and a rival to Syracuse in power.
Physical Description:
Akragas occupied the top of a ridge between the confluence
of the Hypsas and Akragas rivers, ca. 5 km inland from the Sicilian SW coast.
The slope of the ridge is abrupt in three dircetions, but more gentle to the S
side which leads down to the Hypsas valley. The acropolis occupied the highest
and narrowest part of the ridge at the NW. This was also the steepest area of
the ridge and the acropolis was not walled. Southeast of the acropolis the ridge
top broadens and slopes gently away to the S. This area of approximately 1 km
square was enclosed by a strong fortification wall of ca. 10 km in length and
contained the main part of the city. Recent excavations in the ancient residential
area have shown that the Hellenistic and Roman city was laid out on a rectangular
grid plan that seems to overlay an earlier grid system of the 5th century B.C.
The regular grid system of the earlier city streets may have been established
during the extensive building program carried out at the beginning of the 5th
century B.C. and coincide with the design of aqueducts and underground water transfer
and storage system built by the architect Phaiax. South of the main area of the
city, the city wall runs along the southern edge of the ridge top. Just inside
the city wall and also arranged along the southern edge of the ridge plateau are
the major sanctuaries and temples of the city. The temples of Hera, Concord, Herakles,
Olympian Zeus, and Hephaistos, as well as the sanctuary of Demeter and the Chthonic
Deities and other religious shrines are arranged along the southern boundary of
the city. The central city gate (Gate IV or the Golden Gate) opens near the center
of the southern wall on the temple ridge. From this gate an ancient road continued
down slope to the Hypsas valley, passing additional religious centers, including
the sanctuary of Asklepios, and continued on to the city's harbor at Emporium.
Description:
Akragas claimed the legendary Daedalus as its founder,
but in fact the city seems to have been established by a group of Rhodian and
Cretan colonists from the city of Gela at ca. 582 B.C. The settlers named the
city after the river along its eastern side. Under the tyrant Phalaris, ca. 570
B.C., the city began to expand its territory and by the end of the reign of Theron,
a century later, the city state had reached the height of its military and political
power. Theron had led the city to victory over the Carthaginians in 480 B.C. and
initiated a major building program in Akragas which included an extensive water
system designed by the architect Phaiax. The city continued to prosper until the
end of the 5th century B.C. In 406, after a siege of eight months, Akragas was
conquered and completely destroyed by Carthage. the city remained abandoned until
ca. 340 B.C. when Timoleon, the Corinthian established at Syracuse, defeated the
Carthaginians and restored independence to the Sicilian cities. Timoleon rebuilt
Akragas and repopulated it with displaced Akragasians and immigrants from Elea.
In 276 B.C. Akragas again fell under the control of Carthage, but after several
sieges of the city, Rome gained control in 210 B.C. The Romans enslaved the inhabitants
and repopulated the city which thereafter enjoyed peace and prosperity under Roman
rule. Commerce and industry advanced and the port at Emporium flourished. During
the early Christian period the city quickly declined and it was little more than
a village by the time of the Arab invasion in A.D. 827.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 261 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Akragas
Type: Temple
Summary: Temple; on the ridge marking the southern extent of the
city, east of the Temple of Herakles.
Date: ca. 430 B.C.
Period: Classical
Plan:
6 x 13; peripteral; pronaos and opisthodomos each distyle in antis; stairwells
on either side of the entrance to the cella leading to attic space.
History:
The temple was converted into a Christian church in the sixth century A.D.,
at which time the spaces between the columns were walled, the division between
the cella and the opisthodomos was destroyed, and arches were cut into the cella
walls. The blocks between the columns were removed in the 18th century. Due to
its conversion, this temple is one of the best preserved Doric temples in existence.
Its attribution to Concord is dubious.
Other Notes:
Double contraction on all four sides; subtle shifting to correct metope problem;
openings above cella porches to relieve lintels; curvature of stylobate; entasis
and slant of columns; uncarved metopes.
Carol A. Stein, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 48 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Akragas
Type: Temple
Summary: Temple; in the southwestern corner of the city, east of
the "Temple of the Dioskouroi."
Date: Unknown Period
Plan:
Fragmentary remains of a peristyle and cella, crepidoma, and shafts of two
columns.
History:
Dated to 5th century B.C., but interior and foundations of an earlier temple are
contained in antis of the 6th century B.C.
Lisa M. Cerrato, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 1 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Akragas
Type: Temple
Summary: Temple; on the ridge marking the southern extent of the
city, east of the Temple of Concord.
Date: ca. 460 B.C. - 440 B.C.
Period: Classical
Plan:
6 x 13; peripteral; pronaos and opisthodomos each distyle in antis. No angle
contraction
History:
Constructed in the prosperous period following the Battle of Himera (480 B.C.),
the Temple of Hera exhibits a Classic Doric plan. The ramp visible today on the
east end of the building is a Roman addition. Traces of burning on the surviving
superstructure may be the result of the Carthaginian sack of the city in 406 B.C.
Its attribution to Hera is probably erroneous.
Carol A. Stein, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 25 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Akragas
Type: Temple
Summary: Temple; on the ridge marking the southern extent of the
city, just east of the Temple of Zeus Olympios.
Date: ca. 510 B.C.
Period: Archaic
Plan:
6 x 15; peripteral; pronaos and opisthodomos each distyle in antis; stairwells
on either side of the entrance to the cella leading to attic space. Angle contraction
on the fronts but not on the sides of the temple.
History:
The earliest of the large temples at Akragas, construction on this temple was
begun in the last decades of the sixth century (shortly before the nearby Temple
of Zeus Olympios). The temple capitals exhibit a stiff-profiled echinus, appearing
here for the first time in the west. Its attribution is uncertain, based solely
on a comment by Cicero.
Other Notes:
In 1924, eight columns on the south side were re-erected.
Carol A. Stein, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 54 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Akragas
Type: Temple
Summary: Doric temple, its superstructure reconstructed in the 19th
c. from various fragments.
Date: Unknown
Plan:
Only the foundations remain, and, at the northwest corner, a group of four
columns with entablature was incorrectly reconstructed.
History:
The 1836 reconstruction of the group of columns incorporated architectural
elements of various periods and various buildings from this site.
Lisa M. Cerrato, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 9 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Akragas
Type: Temple
Summary: Monumental temple, built of ashlar blocks; the largest
temple built in the Greek world.
Date: Unknown
Plan:
Over the foundations and the five-stepped crepidoma, in place of the traditional
colonnade there extended a solid wall, strengthened at regular intervals by Doric
half columns on the exterior and pilasters on the interior.
History:
Built after the victory of Himera 480 B.C., this temple was part of a grandiose
building program undertaken at Akragas. It was unfinished at the time of the Carthaginian
destruction in 406 B.C.
Other Notes:
Between the half columns, at mid height up against the solid wall, stood colossal
statues of Telamons, 7.65 m high, with arms bent at head level as if supporting
an architrave. The facades were decorated with sculptural representations of the
Gigantomachy and the Fall of Troy.
Lisa M. Cerrato, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 56 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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