The Valley of the Temples in Agrigento is the first archaeological park to obtain an official ‘Covid-free’ certification.
“We expect the certification to be a great boost for international tourism; we have developed so many measures to guarantee the safety of visitors and staff that we were the first to receive an official virus-free certification, after working on a series of prevention and protection measures,” representatives for the Archeological Park told ANSA, Italy’s main news agency.
Access to the site is allowed to a limited number of visitors at a time, therefore advance booking is recommended or you may have to wait in line until the next available time slot becomes available. Entry and exit routes have been differentiated; upon entering, visitors will be taken their body temperature, with access denied to those with a temperature of 37.5° or higher. Wearing a face mask is mandatory for the entire duration of the visit as well as maintaining a social distance of 1.5 meters.
The virus-free certification was issued by GAe Engineering, a safety management specialist company.
In June, approximately 8,000 people visited the Valley of the Temples, a positive sign for the site, one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece (Magna Grecia) art and architecture. Still, the number is very low if compared with numbers from previous years, when, in summer, the archeological park, one of the main attractions of Sicily, had about 3,000 visitors a day.
The Valley includes remains of seven temples, all in Doric style, one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture. One of the most famous is the Temple of Concordia, built in the 5th century BC and one of the best preserved of the site.
Goethe described it this way: "Such a splendid springtime view as today’s at sunrise we’ve never had in our whole lives… We viewed the long and broad, mild slope of the ancient city, entirely covered in gardens and vineyards…Towards the southern end of this green and blossoming terrain does one spot the Temple of Concordia rising above it, as well as to the east the scant remains of the Temple of Juno.”
The Valley of the Temples Archeological Park is open every day from 08:30 am to 1:30 pm and from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Entrance ticket is €12. https://www.parcovalledeitempli.it/en/
