RoutesHiking trails & RoutesItalySicilyAgrigento
Temple of Hercules – Fallen Icarus loop from Maddalusa
RoutesHiking trails & RoutesItalySicilyAgrigento
Temple of Hercules – Fallen Icarus loop from Maddalusa
Moderate
4.6
(31)
485
hikers
Temple of Hercules – Fallen Icarus loop from Maddalusa
02:46
10.4km
120m
Hiking
Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.
Last updated: June 24, 2026
Waypoints
A
Start point
Bus stop
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1
2.94 km
Temple of the Dioscuri (Valley of the Temples)
Highlight • Historical Site
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
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
Translated by Google •
Tip by
2
3.47 km
Altar of Zeus, Valley of the Temples
Highlight • Historical Site
Dating back to ancient pre-Christian times, the deities of Roman and Greek legends in particular have been preserved in the collective memory of people in Europe to this day. Over the course of history, artists have repeatedly redesigned them as motifs in paintings or as statues.
On this hiking highlight in the "Valley of the Temples", an archaeological excavation site with a wealth of shrines from antiquity, we come across an altar in honor of the father of the gods ZEUS, who towers over Mount Olympus - not just a high mountain in Greece, but in... According to ancient mythology, it was also the legendary seat of the gods.
On this hiking highlight in the "Valley of the Temples", an archaeological excavation site with a wealth of shrines from antiquity, we come across an altar in honor of the father of the gods ZEUS, who towers over Mount Olympus - not just a high mountain in Greece, but in... According to ancient mythology, it was also the legendary seat of the gods.
Translated by Google •
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3
4.03 km
Temple of Hercules
Highlight • Historical Site
Akragas was only 582 BC. It was founded in a second wave of Greek colonization, but soon developed into the second most important Greek polis in Sicily after Syracuse, particularly following the victory in the battle of Himera. This importance found its expression, among other things, in a series of monumental temples built during the 5th century BC. BC they were built along the southern walls on a ridge, which in archaeological jargon is called the "Neck of the Temples" (Italian: Collina dei Templi), but popularly (due to its position below the modern city of Agrigento) as "Valley the temple" (Italian: Valley of the Temples). The term "Valley of the Temples" is often used generically also for the entire archaeological site of Agrigento.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
4
4.60 km
Fallen Icarus
Highlight • Monument
Impressive appearance :D
Translated by Google •
Tip by
5
5.03 km
Byzantine Rock-Cut Tombs
Highlight • Historical Site
Grave carved out of rock
Translated by Google •
Tip by
6
5.45 km
Temple of Juno, Valley of the Temples
Highlight • Historical Site
Great graves cut in the rocks, you can climb into them. Well preserved Greek temples.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
7
6.61 km
Villa Aurea
Highlight • Historical Site
The British officer and amateur archaeologist Alexander Hardcastle lived here from 1921. He financed the exploration of the temple complex.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
8
6.96 km
Temple of Olympian Zeus (Tempio di Giove Olimpico)
Highlight • Historical Site
The ruins of the temple of Jupiter Olimpio (Zeus for the Greeks) are the testimony of one of the largest Doric temples of classical antiquity; unfortunately the area, probably already damaged in ancient times by earthquakes, was used as a quarry since the Middle Ages (the cava gigantum mentioned in archival documents) and in the 18th century for the construction of the Porto Empedocle pier.
According to the historian Diodorus Siculus, construction began immediately following the battle of Himera, the great victory of the Greek cities of Sicily over the Carthaginians, in 480 BC. Again, according to the historian, the construction of the temple was never completed, because it still had no roof at the time of the conquest of the city of Akragas by the Carthaginians in 406 BC.
The very original architectural building was placed on a gigantic rectangular platform, on which stood a base of five steps, the last of which was twice as high as the others, to form a sort of podium and isolate the temple from the surrounding environment .
The temple was enclosed by a wall enclosure, characterized on the outside by seven semi-columns of the Doric order on the short sides and fourteen on the long sides; to these corresponded, inside, as many rectangular semi-pillars. The hypothetical height of the semi-columns has been estimated at more than eighteen metres.
Outside, colossal figures of Giants (the Telamons), about eight meters high and caught in the act of supporting the entablature of the temple with the strength of their arms, were placed in the spaces between the semi-columns on shelves about eleven meters high.
Inside this very tall building - very similar to a fence - there was a completely original cell, as it had no roof, probably interpreted by Diodorus Siculus as a sign of the incompleteness of the construction. The coverage, in fact, was probably limited to the corridors around the cell.
The fronts were decorated to the east with sculptures depicting a struggle between the gods and the Giants (Gigantomachia) and to the west with the taking of Troy (Iliupersis).
The remains of the monumental rectangular altar are visible a short distance from the eastern front of the temple.
Source: parcodellavalledeitempli.it
According to the historian Diodorus Siculus, construction began immediately following the battle of Himera, the great victory of the Greek cities of Sicily over the Carthaginians, in 480 BC. Again, according to the historian, the construction of the temple was never completed, because it still had no roof at the time of the conquest of the city of Akragas by the Carthaginians in 406 BC.
The very original architectural building was placed on a gigantic rectangular platform, on which stood a base of five steps, the last of which was twice as high as the others, to form a sort of podium and isolate the temple from the surrounding environment .
The temple was enclosed by a wall enclosure, characterized on the outside by seven semi-columns of the Doric order on the short sides and fourteen on the long sides; to these corresponded, inside, as many rectangular semi-pillars. The hypothetical height of the semi-columns has been estimated at more than eighteen metres.
Outside, colossal figures of Giants (the Telamons), about eight meters high and caught in the act of supporting the entablature of the temple with the strength of their arms, were placed in the spaces between the semi-columns on shelves about eleven meters high.
Inside this very tall building - very similar to a fence - there was a completely original cell, as it had no roof, probably interpreted by Diodorus Siculus as a sign of the incompleteness of the construction. The coverage, in fact, was probably limited to the corridors around the cell.
The fronts were decorated to the east with sculptures depicting a struggle between the gods and the Giants (Gigantomachia) and to the west with the taking of Troy (Iliupersis).
The remains of the monumental rectangular altar are visible a short distance from the eastern front of the temple.
Source: parcodellavalledeitempli.it
Translated by Google •
Tip by
B
10.4 km
End point
Bus stop
Way Types & Surfaces
Way Types
4.53 km
4.31 km
1.37 km
150 m
Surfaces
4.53 km
2.92 km
979 m
918 m
626 m
349 m
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de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch%C3%A4ologische_St%C3%A4tten_von_Agrigent
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