DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.846#0100
I 97 3
Ruins of Ancient Agrigentum.
From the only window, of the only chamber which I occupy,
in the only inn, in the only street of Girgenti, I see stretching
far before me, in a circle along the shore of the sea of Africa,
the dismantled walls of the city of Phalaris.
The place on which my eyes rested might truly be called
classic ground. It was occupied by a most ancient and cele-
brated city. It had been covered with the most splendid edi-
fices, it had been inhabited by 800,000 citizens !
Temple of Ceres and Proserpine.
I have already said that the modern Agrigentum is built on
the declivity of a hill, which commands the site of the ancient
city; the latter is situated on an elevated platform above the
level of the sea, a terrace of an immense extent, over the sur-
face of which its ruins are spread.
In directing my steps from the old towards the new city, the
person who acted as my guide stopped before the gates of a
modern edifice, which, under the name of the chapel of St.
Blaise, entirely covers the ruins of the famous Temple of Ceres
and Proserpine. The antiquity of this edifice, the founda-
tions only of which exist at present, is referred to an epoch an-
terior to the reign of Phalaris; for we are told by Pliny, that
the citizens of Agrigentum were assembled in this temple at
the moment when Phalaris took possession of the government.
It is said that this temple was of a square form, and without
pillars. The imagination may give it any form, for, as I have
already said, all its remains are confined to its immense founda-
tions. It would appear that the edifice had been built on the
side of a hill, for on one side I remarked that ihe earth was
supported by massive and square blocks of stone. Farther on
may be seen some shapeless ruins of one of the gates of the
city.
Ruins of the Temple of Juno-Lucina.
Pursuing the rapid declivity of the hill, I remarked, though
still at some distance, the magnificent ruins of a temple, which,
situated at the eastern extremity of the platform on which the
ancient Agrigentum rose, had struck my eye at the moment I
was entering the new city. My impatience hastened the pace
of my guide. I hurried over the space, and, mounting a little
hill on which the edifice was placed, I stood before the portico
of the Temple of Juno-Lucina.
The shape of this temple is oblong. It has a double facade,
and is entirely surrounded with a peripteres, formed of thirty-four
Voyages and Travels, No. 2. Vol. IV. O
Ruins of Ancient Agrigentum.
From the only window, of the only chamber which I occupy,
in the only inn, in the only street of Girgenti, I see stretching
far before me, in a circle along the shore of the sea of Africa,
the dismantled walls of the city of Phalaris.
The place on which my eyes rested might truly be called
classic ground. It was occupied by a most ancient and cele-
brated city. It had been covered with the most splendid edi-
fices, it had been inhabited by 800,000 citizens !
Temple of Ceres and Proserpine.
I have already said that the modern Agrigentum is built on
the declivity of a hill, which commands the site of the ancient
city; the latter is situated on an elevated platform above the
level of the sea, a terrace of an immense extent, over the sur-
face of which its ruins are spread.
In directing my steps from the old towards the new city, the
person who acted as my guide stopped before the gates of a
modern edifice, which, under the name of the chapel of St.
Blaise, entirely covers the ruins of the famous Temple of Ceres
and Proserpine. The antiquity of this edifice, the founda-
tions only of which exist at present, is referred to an epoch an-
terior to the reign of Phalaris; for we are told by Pliny, that
the citizens of Agrigentum were assembled in this temple at
the moment when Phalaris took possession of the government.
It is said that this temple was of a square form, and without
pillars. The imagination may give it any form, for, as I have
already said, all its remains are confined to its immense founda-
tions. It would appear that the edifice had been built on the
side of a hill, for on one side I remarked that ihe earth was
supported by massive and square blocks of stone. Farther on
may be seen some shapeless ruins of one of the gates of the
city.
Ruins of the Temple of Juno-Lucina.
Pursuing the rapid declivity of the hill, I remarked, though
still at some distance, the magnificent ruins of a temple, which,
situated at the eastern extremity of the platform on which the
ancient Agrigentum rose, had struck my eye at the moment I
was entering the new city. My impatience hastened the pace
of my guide. I hurried over the space, and, mounting a little
hill on which the edifice was placed, I stood before the portico
of the Temple of Juno-Lucina.
The shape of this temple is oblong. It has a double facade,
and is entirely surrounded with a peripteres, formed of thirty-four
Voyages and Travels, No. 2. Vol. IV. O