The area known as the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities is, in reality, the central part of a series of adjacent sacred areas, dedicated to underground cults (in our case, Demeter and Persephone) and located on the sides of Porta V.
The northernmost part of our sanctuary, west of the gate, is characterized by cult buildings, fences and numerous altars, built during the sixth century BC.
In the northernmost part, a small temple with three rooms can be seen, flanked on one side by a room with a square altar and on the other by a room with a circular altar and central opening.
In the middle area, there is a small temple with a single room accessible from the east side, next to which there is a small temple with three rooms, open to the north.
To the west of these buildings, there are two other small temples with an entrance hall, cell and a room reserved for the officiants of the cult: the northernmost one has a square altar in front of the entrance door and a well outside the south side.
Between these two small temples there is a large circular altar, with an internal cavity, and a square altar.
In the southernmost area of this area, there is the so-called temple of the Dioscuri, today one of the most representative ruins of the Valley of the Temples, the result of the partial reconstruction (the four columns on the north-west side), carried out by the Commission of Antiquities of the Sicily between 1836 and 1852, using architectural elements of various periods and origins.
This is the foundation of a Doric temple, datable to the second half of the 5th century BC, with six columns on the short sides and thirteen on the long ones, and divided inside into an entrance hall, a cell and a rear compartment.
The traditional denomination of the temple of the Dioscuri is only conventional and derives from the reference to a passage by the Greek poet Pindar, who refers - with regard to Akragas - to a cult and a festival in honor of the Dioscuri.
It is much more probable that the temple was dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, the titular divinities of the entire sacred area.
Source: parcodellavalledeitempli.it