Akragas - Revision history

Irlandos: /* History */

2008-09-11T14:02:11Z

History

Irlandos: /* Site of Ancient Akragas */

2008-09-11T14:01:35Z

Site of Ancient Akragas

Irlandos: New page: '''Akragas''' (Italian: Agrigento) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of '''Ak...

2008-09-11T14:00:53Z

New page: '''Akragas''' (Italian: Agrigento) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of '''Ak...

New page

'''Akragas''' (Italian: Agrigento) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of '''Akragras''' one of the leading cities of ''[[Magna Graecia]]'' during the golden age of [[Ancient Greece]].

==History==
Akragas was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582-580 BC and is attributed to [[Greeks|Greek]] colonists from [[Gela]], who named it ''Akragas''. The meaning of the word is unclear, though the stock commonplace referred to an eponymous legendary founder, an ''Akragante'', apparently no more than a retrospective etiological myth for an obscure name.

Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of ''[[Magna Graecia]]''. It came to prominence under the sixth-century tyrants [[Phalaris]] and [[Theron]], and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son [[Thrasydaeus]]. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between [[Athens]] and [[Syracuse]], its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in [[406 BC]]. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under [[Timoleon]] in the latter part of the fourth century.

The city was sacked by both the Romans and the Carthaginians in the third century— the Romans in 262 BC and the Carthaginians in 255 BC. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 and renamed it ''Agrigentum'', although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city passed into the hands of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and then the [[Byzantine Empire]]. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved up to the former [[acropolis]], at the top of the hill. The reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens, Berbers and other peoples around this time. In 828 AD the Saracens captured the diminished remnant of the city. They pronounced its name as ''Kerkent'' in Arabic; it was thus Sicilianized as "Girgenti". It retained this name until 1927, when Mussolini's government reintroduced an Italianized version of the Latin name.

==Site of Ancient Akragas==
Ancient Akragas covers a huge area — much of which is still unexcavated today — but is exemplified by the famous ''Valle dei Templi'' ("Valley of the Temples", a misnomer, as it is a ridge, rather than a valley). This comprises a large sacred area on the south side of the ancient city where seven monumental Greek temples in the [[Doric style]] were constructed during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Now excavated and partially restored, they constitute some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. They are listed as a World Heritage Site.

The best-preserved of the temples are two very similar buildings traditionally attributed to the goddesses Juno Lacinia and Concordia (though archaeologists believe this attribution to be incorrect). The latter temple is remarkably intact, due to its having been converted into a Christian church in 597 AD. Both were constructed to a peripteral hexastyle design. The area around the Temple of Concordia was later re-used by early Christians as a catacomb, with tombs hewn out of the rocky cliffs and outcrops.

The other temples are much more fragmentary, having been toppled by earthquakes long ago and quarried for their stones. The largest by far is the Temple of Olympian [[Zeus]], built to commemorate the [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Battle of Himera in 480 BCE]]: it is believed to have been the largest [[Doric order|Doric temple]] ever built. Although it was apparently used, it appears never to have been completed; construction was abandoned after the Cathaginian invasion of 406 BC. The remains of the temple were extensively quarried in the eighteenth century to build the jetties of Porto Empedocle. Temples dedicated to [[Hephaestus]], [[Heracles]] and [[Asclepius]] were also constructed in the sacred area, which includes a sanctuary of [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]] (formerly known as the Temple of [[Castor]] and [[Pollux]]); the marks of the fires set by the Carthaginians in 406 BC can still be seen on the sanctuary's stones.

Many other Hellenistic and Roman sites can be found in and around the town. These include a pre-Hellenic cave sanctuary near a Temple of Demeter, over which the Church of San Biagio was built. A late Hellenistic funerary monument erroneously labelled the "Tomb of Theron" is situated just outside the sacred area, and a first-century AD ''heroon'' (heroic shrine) adjoins the thirteenth-century Church of San Nicola a short distance to the north. A sizeable area of the Greco-Roman city has also been excavated, and several classical necropolis and quarries are still extant.

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Magna Graecia]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==History==
-Akragas was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582-580 BC and is attributed to [[Greeks|Greek]] colonists from [[Gela]], who named it ''Akragas''. The meaning of the word is unclear, though the stock commonplace referred to an eponymous legendary founder, an ''Akragante'', apparently no more than a retrospective etiological myth for an obscure name.
+Akragas was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around [[582 BC|582]]-[[580 BC]] and is attributed to [[Greeks|Greek]] colonists from [[Gela]], who named it ''Akragas''. The meaning of the word is unclear, though the stock commonplace referred to an eponymous legendary founder, an ''Akragante'', apparently no more than a retrospective etiological myth for an obscure name.
 Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of ''[[Magna Graecia]]''. It came to prominence under the sixth-century tyrants [[Phalaris]] and [[Theron]], and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son [[Thrasydaeus]]. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between [[Athens]] and [[Syracuse]], its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in [[406 BC]]. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under [[Timoleon]] in the latter part of the fourth century.
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 The city was sacked by both the Romans and the Carthaginians in the third century— the Romans in 262 BC and the Carthaginians in 255 BC. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 and renamed it ''Agrigentum'', although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.
 After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city passed into the hands of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and then the [[Byzantine Empire]]. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved up to the former [[acropolis]], at the top of the hill. The reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens, Berbers and other peoples around this time. In 828 AD the Saracens captured the diminished remnant of the city. They pronounced its name as ''Kerkent'' in Arabic; it was thus Sicilianized as "Girgenti". It retained this name until 1927, when Mussolini's government reintroduced an Italianized version of the Latin name.
 ==Site of Ancient Akragas==

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The best-preserved of the temples are two very similar buildings traditionally attributed to the goddesses Juno Lacinia and Concordia (though archaeologists believe this attribution to be incorrect). The latter temple is remarkably intact, due to its having been converted into a Christian church in 597 AD. Both were constructed to a peripteral hexastyle design. The area around the Temple of Concordia was later re-used by early Christians as a catacomb, with tombs hewn out of the rocky cliffs and outcrops.
-The other temples are much more fragmentary, having been toppled by earthquakes long ago and quarried for their stones. The largest by far is the Temple of Olympian [[Zeus]], built to commemorate the [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Battle of Himera in 480 BCE]]: it is believed to have been the largest [[Doric order|Doric temple]] ever built. Although it was apparently used, it appears never to have been completed; construction was abandoned after the Cathaginian invasion of 406 BC. The remains of the temple were extensively quarried in the eighteenth century to build the jetties of Porto Empedocle. Temples dedicated to [[Hephaestus]], [[Heracles]] and [[Asclepius]] were also constructed in the sacred area, which includes a sanctuary of [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]] (formerly known as the Temple of [[Castor]] and [[Pollux]]); the marks of the fires set by the Carthaginians in 406 BC can still be seen on the sanctuary's stones.
+The other temples are much more fragmentary, having been toppled by earthquakes long ago and quarried for their stones. The largest by far is the Temple of Olympian [[Zeus]], built to commemorate the [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Battle of Himera in 480 BC]]: it is believed to have been the largest [[Doric order|Doric temple]] ever built. Although it was apparently used, it appears never to have been completed; construction was abandoned after the Cathaginian invasion of [[406 BC]]. The remains of the temple were extensively quarried in the eighteenth century to build the jetties of Porto Empedocle. Temples dedicated to [[Hephaestus]], [[Heracles]] and [[Asclepius]] were also constructed in the sacred area, which includes a sanctuary of [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]] (formerly known as the Temple of [[Castor]] and [[Pollux]]); the marks of the fires set by the Carthaginians in 406 BC can still be seen on the sanctuary's stones.
 Many other Hellenistic and Roman sites can be found in and around the town. These include a pre-Hellenic cave sanctuary near a Temple of Demeter, over which the Church of San Biagio was built. A late Hellenistic funerary monument erroneously labelled the "Tomb of Theron" is situated just outside the sacred area, and a first-century  AD ''heroon'' (heroic shrine) adjoins the thirteenth-century Church of San Nicola a short distance to the north. A sizeable area of the Greco-Roman city has also been excavated, and several classical necropolis and quarries are still extant.