Information Agrigento

Agrigento (Girgenti in Sicilian) is a town on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, capital of the province of Agrigento. The city is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragras (also Acragas, Agrigentum in Latin, Kerkent in Arabic), one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia. The city was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582-580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it Akragas. The meaning of the word is unclear, though the stock commonplace referred to an eponymous legendary founder, an Akragante, apparently no more than a retrospective etiology of an obscure name. Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia. It came to prominence under the sixth-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the fourth century. The city was sacked by both the Romans and the Carthaginians in the third century— the Romans in 262 BCE and the Carthaginians in 255 BCE. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 and renamed it Agrigentum, although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city passed into the hands of the Byzantine Empire. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved up to the former acropolis, at the top of the hill. The reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens, Berbers and other peoples around this time. In 828 CE the Saracens captured the diminished remnant of the city and renamed it Kerkent in Arabic; it was thus Sicilianized as "Girgenti". It retained this name until 1927, when Mussolini's government reintroduced an Italianized version of the Latin name. Agrigento was captured by the Normans under Count Roger I in 1087, who established a Latin bishopric there. The population declined during much of the medieval period but revived somewhat after the 18th century. In 1860, the inhabitants enthusiastically supported Giuseppe Garibaldi in his campaign to unify Italy (the Risorgimento). The city suffered a number of destructive bombing raids during the Second World War.

The municipal district of Agrigento is in the region/district of Sicily and it's in the province of Agrigento. the postcode is 92100 and the code number is +39 0922. Inhabitants are 52.953 and the surface is about 244 km², with a density of population about 217 people for km². Distance: from Rome 502 km, from Florence 727 km and from Venice 894 km.

Information Agrigento Hotels in Italy Choosing for you Map Agrigento
B&B Agrigento - Mille e Una Notte - Templi	Villa Holiday	Night and Day	Oceano&Mare	Camera con Vista
Le Cinque Novelle	Le Cinque Novelle	Hotel Jolly Hotel Della Valle	Hotel Amici	Hotel Tre Torri

Others near Agrigento

Province of Agrigento:
Siculiana (km. 15) | Naro (km. 30) | Montevago (km. 55) | Palma Di Montechiaro (km. 38) | Ribera (km. 21)