Temple of Hera

The name is, like the one of other Greek temples at Agrigento, conventional. In the architecture of this building, erected on the south- east corner of the Valley of the Temples at a height of 120 meters above sea level, is obvious the worry of a rigorous artistic perfection.The building, like the others, faces east and has remarkable dimensions: on a high rectangular platform (m.41,106 in length and 20,260 in width), mounted on four steps, rest 34 columns. Six on the short side and thirteen on the long side , counting the corner ones both ways.

A double square that occupies a surface of 832,807 square meters. The columns consist of four tamburi or drums with 20 sharp-edged flutes and have a height of meters 6,32 and a base diameter of meters 1,70; their distance is meters 1.71 at the center and 1,76 at the sides. It can be dated around 450-440 B.C. Today, 30 columns are standing but only sixteen with their capitals.

It was restored by the Prince of Torremuzza in 1787.

Excerpts from the guidebook “Agrigento – The Valley of the Temple and the Regional Museum” by Giuseppe Di Giovanni, a companion to most of the visitors of the Valley of The Temples.