Agrigento has some of the best Greek ruins I have seen. The town of Agrigento was to me a fairly typical regional town, mainly residential with one nice main street. But just south of the town, down the hill, was the "Valley of the Temples", a huge area with two enormous columned temples still standing, and a large array of other ruins.

The ancient city of Agrigento was founded in the 5th century BC by the Greeks (then known as Akragas), and must have been a stunning place. But unfortunately it was conquered and sacked many times, by the Carthaginians, the Romans (twice - giving it the name of Agrigentum in the 2nd century BC), Saracens and Normans, losing its status and many of its artifacts. Unfortunately in centuries gone by, like many other areas of ruins, the area was used as a quarry for building materials. But there is still a lot to see, and even on an unbearably hot day it was still a fantastic day out, and one of the most interesting places I went on my trip.

I also was luckily enough to bump into two girls I had met at the hostel in Catania a few nights before - the three of us just happened to be separately following a similar path, and were all staying in the same small B&B! It was nice to have some company.