Agrigento
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
Agrigento is situated on the southern coast of Sicily and can be reached mainly via the “Agrigento” state road, also known as the Strada degli Scrittori, which connects the city to the Palermo–Catania motorway near Caltanissetta. The ‘Sud Occidentale Sicula’ state road runs through the municipal area along the coast, linking Agrigento to Trapani in the west and to Gela and Syracuse in the east. There are no direct motorway links to the city. The railway network, operated by Trenitalia, serves the stations of Agrigento Centrale and Agrigento Bassa, with regional services to Palermo, Caltanissetta and Catania. Urban public transport is operated by TUA – Trasporti Urbani Agrigento Srl. As the city does not have its own airport, the main airport serving scheduled flights is ‘Palermo Falcone e Borsellino Airport’, approximately 130 km away. During the summer months, high temperatures and heavy tourist traffic heading towards the Valley of the Temples can cause delays on the roads leading into the city.
Introduction
Agrigento stands on a hilly plateau on the southern coast of Sicily, a short distance from the sea, in an area that slopes down from the inland hills to the Mediterranean coastline. The municipal area extends from sea level to over 300 metres, nestled between the valleys of the Akragas and Hypsas streams. It borders Porto Empedocle, Favara, Joppolo Giancaxio, Aragona, Raffadali, Realmonte, Siculiana, Sant’Angelo Muxaro, Naro, Palma di Montechiaro, Cattolica Eraclea and Montallegro. Founded as a Greek colony under the name of Akragas, the town preserves, in the Valley of the Temples – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the identity that still defines it today as one of the most important examples of Magna Graecia.
Description
The municipal area extends across a landscape of clayey and sandy hills that slope gently down towards the coast, traversed by the Akragas (San Biagio) and Hypsas (San Girolamo) streams, which inantiquity marked the boundaries of the Greek settlement between the two valleys. Inland, the landscape becomes more rugged, with badlands and chalk outcrops typical of the Agrigento hinterland, whilst the coastal strip features white marl cliffs similar to those of the nearby Scala dei Turchi, just outside the municipal boundaries.
Founded around 580 BC by Greek colonists from Gela and Rhodes under the name Akragas, the city reached its peak in the 5th century BC under the tyrant Theron, becoming one of the most important poleis of Magna Graecia. Conquered by the Carthaginians in 406 BC and later by the Romans, who renamed it Agrigentum, it came under Byzantine and Arab rule — during which it was known as Kerkent — until the Norman conquest, when it took the form Girgenti, a name retained until the official name was changed to Agrigento in 1927. The medieval old town developed on the hill of Girgenti, above the site of the Greek city, whose archaeological area, the Valley of the Temples, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
The city’s economy is based on tourism, agriculture — with almond, olive and citrus groves historically central to the agricultural landscape, celebrated annually at the Almond Blossom Festival — and the service sector linked to its role as a provincial capital. Agrigento was the birthplace of the playwright and Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello, born in the Caos district in 1867, and, in ancient times, of the philosopher Empedocles.
The municipal area does not include any nationally or regionally protected natural areas within its boundaries; the Torre Salsa Nature Reserve, one of the best known in the area, lies within the neighbouring municipality of Siculiana. The vegetation along the coast is characterised by Mediterranean scrub, whilst the agricultural areas inland are home to extensive almond groves and centuries-old olive groves.
The area lends itself to historical and nature trails through thearchaeological site of the Valley of the Temples and the inland hills, whilst along the coast there are trails leading to the white marl formations of the Scala dei Turchi and the beaches of San Leone.
Information
General information
Area: 243.57 km²
Altitude of the main town: 277 m
Highest point: 674 m - Monte Giafaglione
Population: 55,118 (as at 1 January 2026, ISTAT estimate)
Name in dialect: Girgenti (Sicilian)
Name of inhabitants: Agrigentini
Patron saint: Saint Gerlando, celebrated on 25 February
Neighbouring municipalities: Aragona – Cattolica Eraclea – Favara – Joppolo Giancaxio – Montallegro – Naro – Palma di Montechiaro – Porto Empedocle – Raffadali – Realmonte – Sant’Angelo Muxaro – Siculiana
Province: Province of Agrigento
Region: Sicily
Country: Italy
Official website: comune.agrigento.it
Points of interest
Itineraries
Itineraries by activity