Agrigento, Italy: Self-Guided Walking Tour

The best things to do in Agrigento include exploring the Valley of the Temples, discovering archaeological museums and ancient meeting places, and walking through the medieval hilltop centre. The city brings together the remains of Akragas, one of Sicily’s most important Greek settlements, with churches, gates and historic buildings from later centuries. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Agrigento with 39 narrated places.

Located in southern Sicily, Agrigento is especially rewarding when explored on foot. Its archaeological sites are spread across a broad landscape, while the historic centre reveals a different side of the city through religious buildings, museums and medieval remains.

What to see in Agrigento

Valle dei Templi

The Valley of the Temples is the symbol of Agrigento and one of Sicily’s most important landmarks. The archaeological site occupies the monumental core of ancient Akragas and is known for its remarkably preserved Doric temples from the Hellenistic period.

This is not a site to rush through. The area includes temples, archaeological remains and a wide landscape, making a slow walk the best way to appreciate the scale of the ancient city.

Temple of Concordia

The Temple of Concordia is one of the highlights of the Valley of the Temples and one of the best-preserved Doric temples in the world, alongside the Parthenon in Athens. Its classic design includes a single row of columns with six across the front, as well as a double cella in antis.

The temple’s modern name does not reveal its original dedication: the deity to whom it was dedicated is unknown. “Concordia” was adopted in the sixteenth century because of an ancient Latin inscription found nearby.

Temple of Heracles

The Temple of Heracles is one of the oldest temples in the Valley of the Temples. Built in the archaic Doric style, it stands on the rocky spur of the Temple Hill near Villa Aurea.

Its name comes from Renaissance scholars, who connected it with Cicero’s mention of a temple dedicated to Heracles near the ancient forum. The attribution is therefore historical rather than certain, but the remains still offer a strong impression of the early Greek architecture of Sicily.

Asclepieium of Agrigentum

The Asclepieium of Agrigentum, or Tempio di Esculapio, is another ancient Greek temple in the archaeological area. It belonged to Akragas and was dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god associated with medicine and healing.

Kolymbetra

Kolymbetra is a garden in a small valley within the Valley of the Temples, where nature and archaeology come together. Its name comes from a Greek term for a type of pool used in Roman times for water games.

After a long period of abandonment, the garden was restored following its transfer on free loan to the Fondo Ambiente Italiano in 1999. Its vegetation and historic structures were brought back to life, and the site also contains the Temple of Hephaestus and ancient hypogea.

Ekklesiasterion of Agrigento

The Ekklesiasterion was an ancient assembly hall used for civic meetings. It offers a glimpse into the public life of Akragas, where citizens gathered to discuss matters of importance and make decisions affecting the community.

Museo Archeologico Regionale Pietro Griffo

The Museo Archeologico Regionale Pietro Griffo is the main place to examine many of the objects discovered in and around the Valley of the Temples. Its collection covers the ancient Greek city of Akragas, the Roman city of Agrigentum and archaeological sites elsewhere in central and southern Sicily, including Gela, Vassallaggi and Montagna di Marzo.

The museum began as a civic museum in 1864. Its current building, designed by Franco Minissi, opened in 1967, and the museum became regional in 1977.

Oratorio di Falaride

The Oratorio di Falaride is a small oratory in Agrigento. It is a quieter stop than the major archaeological sites, but adds another layer to the city’s historical landscape.

Santa Maria dei Greci

Santa Maria dei Greci was built in the thirteenth century directly over the remains of an ancient Doric temple. Some scholars identify the temple as the one dedicated to Athena Lindia and Zeus Atabyrios mentioned by the Greek historian Polybius.

The church’s Gothic Chiaramontano portal creates a striking contrast with the ancient foundations beneath it. It is one of the clearest examples in Agrigento of different historical periods occupying the same site.

Porta di Ponte

Porta di Ponte is one of the historic gates of Agrigento. It formed part of the defensive walls that once protected the city and marks an entrance into the historic urban landscape.

Monastery and Church of Santo Spirito

The Monastery of Santo Spirito, also known locally as the Badia Grande or Bataranni, is a medieval Cistercian complex in the heart of the old town. The monastery and the adjoining Church of Santo Spirito form a single religious ensemble that has played an important role in Agrigento’s urban and historical life.

Agrigento Cathedral

Agrigento Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Gerlando, is the city’s main Catholic church and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Agrigento. It has been recognized as a national monument since 1940. In 1951, Pope Pius XII elevated it to the dignity of a minor basilica.

Diocesan Museum of Agrigento

The Diocesan Museum of Agrigento, or MUDIA, is housed inside the Archbishop’s Palace, close to the cathedral. Its collections originated in an earlier museum established in 1964. That building closed after a landslide struck the city in 1966, while the current museum was inaugurated in 2011.

Castello di Agrigento

The ruins of the Castello di Agrigento, also known locally as the Castrum Agrigenti, stand near Girgenti hill, where the medieval core of Agrigento was founded. The remains evoke the city’s medieval development and its position on the hill.

The Battle of Agrigentum

The site associated with the Battle of Agrigentum recalls the first pitched battle of the First Punic War and the first large-scale confrontation between Carthage and the Roman Republic. The battle took place in 261 BCE after a siege that had begun in 262 BCE. Rome’s victory marked an important step in its attempt to control Sicily.

An Agrigento self-guided walking tour with Neywo

Neywo’s free audio guide lets you explore Agrigento independently, with each story playing as you reach the place it describes. You walk at your own pace, without a group or a schedule, while the app provides context for the temples, museums, churches and historic streets around you.

The Agrigento guide includes four walking tours and one bus route:

• The Valley of the Temples: Greek Akragas at Its Peak — 2.98 km, 90 minutes and 8 narrated stops.
• Agora, Assembly Hall and a Gothic Church: The Museum Quarter — 0.45 km, 34 minutes and 5 narrated stops.
• Girgenti: Via Atenea and the Medieval Hilltop — 2.36 km, 97 minutes and 12 narrated stops.
• Girgenti’s Western Churches: From San Domenico to the Seven Sorrows — 0.84 km, 42 minutes and 6 narrated stops.
• Bus 1: From the Old Town down to the Valley of the Temples — 3.8 km, 16 minutes and 4 narrated stops.

The stories are available in 11 languages. Download Neywo and explore Agrigento with an audio guide that accompanies you as you move from ancient Akragas to the medieval hilltop centre.

When planning a wider trip through Italy, Agrigento can also be combined with other destinations across Sicily, including Catania, Cefalù and Noto.