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Archaeological Area of Agrigento

Founded as a Greek colony in the 6th century B.C., Agrigento became one of the leading cities in the Mediterranean world. Its supremacy and pride are demonstrated by the remains of the magnificent Doric temples that dominate the ancient town, much of which still lies intact under today's fields and orchards. Selected excavated areas throw light on the later Hellenistic and Roman town and the burial practices of its early Christian inhabitants.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/831

The Archaeological Area of Agrigento comprises the remains of a great Ancient Greek city in the mediterranean.

Agrigento or Akragas was founded in the 6th century BC by Greek settlers originating from Rhodes and Crete. They left unstable Greece, that suffered from civil war, famine and social unrest. Groups of settlers spread out over the Mediterranean, with the purpose to build their own and better Greece abroad.

These colonies acted politically independent from the motherland and each other.

The city of Akragas flourished especially in the 5th century BC, alternating between tyranny and democracy. Most of the remaining temples were built in this period. Its position was lost in 406, when the Carthaginians all but destroyed it. It was rebuilt, but suffered defeat again in 210 when Akragas was besieged by the Romans.

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/agrigento.html