1574 ITALY (Sicily) - Archaeological Area of Agrigento - Temple of Concordia (UNESCO WHS)

According to tradition, Akragas (now Agrigento) was founded by colonists from Rhodes and Crete coming from the founder colony in Sicily, Gela, around 580 BC. It grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia. It came to prominence under the 6th-century  tyrantsPhalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Thrasydaeus. Sacked by the  Carthaginians in 406 BC, it never fully recovered its former status. Disputed between the Romans and the Carthaginians, it passed from one hand to another until it remained under the rule of the Romans. It became prosperous again, but the decline of the Western Empire and the ascendancy of Christianity led to depopulation and impoverishment of the city.

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