Temple of Concordia

Built at the height of Akragas's wealth and power, the temple represents the apex of Greek colonial civilization in Sicily. Its survival through Christian conversion and natural resistance to earthquakes makes it the best-preserved Doric temple outside Athens.

Akragas was founded in 580 BC by colonists from Gela, itself a colony of Rhodes and Crete. The site was strategically chosen: a ridge overlooking the sea, easily defended, blessed with the fertile soil that would make Akragas one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient Mediterranean.

By the fifth century BC, Akragas had accumulated enormous wealth through agriculture, particularly the export of grain and olive oil, and through the labor of enslaved people captured in wars. This wealth was directed into temple construction on a scale that rivaled Athens. The Valley of the Temples eventually contained at least seven major sanctuaries, creating a sacred landscape that announced Akragas's power to every ship approaching the coast.

The Temple of Concordia was built between 440 and 430 BC, during the period of greatest prosperity. Its dimensions conform to Greek mathematical ratios: the stylobate measures 39.42 by 16.92 meters, the columns stand approximately 7 meters high (8.93 meters including capitals), the proportions relate through the mathematical harmonies the Greeks believed reflected cosmic order.

The original deity remains unknown. The name 'Concordia' was assigned in the sixteenth century by Tommaso Fazello, the Dominican friar known as the Father of Sicilian History, based on a first-century Roman inscription found nearby reading 'CONCORDIAE AGRIGENTINORUM SACRUM RESPUBLICA LILIBITANORUM' ('Dedicated to the unity of the people of Agrigento'). There is no historical connection between this inscription and the temple. Scholarly speculation suggests the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux, protectors of seafarers) or Demeter and Persephone (goddesses of fertility, whose cult was central to Akragas) as possible dedications.

In 406 BC, Carthage besieged and sacked Akragas, beginning a long decline. The city was rebuilt but never recovered its former glory. In 597 AD, Bishop Gregory II of Agrigento converted the temple into a Christian church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, a transformation that required cutting twelve arches into the cella walls but also ensured the building's survival through the medieval period. In 1748, the church modifications were removed and the temple restored to approximate its original appearance.