Let’s face it right away: I won’t tell you about the Valley of the Temples. Although it is a wonderful place (which I had the opportunity to visit with an archaeologist, a fantastic experience arranged by Coopculture), it is not the only place to visit in Agrigento.

Today I want to take you to the old center, an area that for a long time was called Girgenti, among the streets, courtyards and squares that preserve the memory of a millenary history.

The altar of the True Cross

This small travel altar is very precious. Because of its fine decorations in enamel and jasper but also, and above all, because, according to tradition, there is a fragment of the true Cross inside of it, namely the one that was found by St. Helena, and was recognized as being that where Jesus had died because, passing it over the body of a dead man, he resurrected.

The altar of the True Cross

Today the portable altar it is kept in the Diocesan Museum (among dozens of beautiful paintings, reliquaries, ancient sacred objects,and much more). This kind of altar was used by the Crusaders when they traveled to the lands of the infidels and Sicily, which before the reconquest by the Normans was dominated by the Arabs, was undoubtedly a pagan island. It dates back to the 12th century.

The medieval frescoes in Santa Maria dei Greci

A man with a serious expression on his face holds the thick branches of a family tree which, climbing up the wall, shows the ancestors of the Virgin. Above him other images depict the Madonna del Latte (The Virgin of the Milk, symbol of the Church) and scenes from the life of the Madonna.

Not all the fourteenth-century frescoes that adorn the beautiful church of Santa Maria dei Greci are clear, but those that can be seen are very particular and fascinating. Exactly as this church, once the cathedral of Girgenti but, even earlier, a temple dedicated to Athena. The church, in fact, which today has the architecture dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, was built on the same site as the temple, covering and incorporating its structures. Some have been made visible by the restorations: under a glass plate in the floor, for example, parts of the base can be recognized.

The wooden ceiling of the cathedral

Saints, bishops, coats of arms, decorative patterns, masks, allegorical figures and, in the centre, a big eagle with tho heads, the symbol of emperor Charles 5th. The wooden ceiling of the cathedral can be read like a book. It was made in the 16th – 17th century, during one of the many transformations of the church. Founded a little less than a thousand years ago, by the will of Bishop Gerlando (who, sanctified, is now the patron saint of the city), the cathedral was rebuilt, enlarged and modified several times. For this reason, today the building presents styles from many different periods. In the apse area, for example, there are baroque stuccos and frescoes. The ceiling can be admired up close, from the top of one of the two towers.

Fragments of the ceiling kept in the Diocesan Museum
The Virtues in the Purgatory church

There are eight of them, one more beautiful than the other. The Virtues that decorate the nave of the seventeenth-century Purgatory church (also known as San Lorenzo) were modeled by the sculptor Giacomo Serpotta from Palermo, helped by his son Giuseppe.

Behind them extends an uninterrupted mantle of stucco decorations, and the church is considered a rare example of the so-called “Sicilian Barocchetto”, that is to say the decorative style widespread on the island by the students of Serpotta. Note the decoration of the dome. where Michele Narbone from Agrigento created a meticulous trompe l’oeil fresco. The church is no longer open to worship but hosts exhibitions and events.

The couscous of the nuns

The nuns of the convent of Santo Spirito are credited with the invention of sweet couscous, a delicious mix of chocolate, candied fruit and pistachio which is considered one of the “classics” among Sicilian convent specialties.

Even today it can be purchased in the small confectionery annexed to the new monastery, along with almond sweets, amaretti, biscuits and many others. Convent and confectionery overlook the same square on which stands the Badia grande complex (Bataranni) with the beautiful church of Santo Spirito (decorated inside by master Giacomo Serpotta, in 1709) and the former monastery, now transformed into a museum.


To arrange a guided tour of the monuments in the old center of Agrigento, you can contact the guides of Ecclesia viva at 327 7549152.
The photos of Santo Spirito and the sweet couscous are by Luca Scamporlino, the other images are by Giancarlo Gallo.

Reproduction prohibited.