Explore the Rupe Atenea, jewel of Agrigento. Discover the ancient caves and historic manufactured buildings that tell centuries of history. Visit now for an unforgettable journey into the past.
The Rupe Atenea and the notable things it presents
1. Rupe Atenea offers certain peculiarities, which I believe have never been noticed by anyone.
The Geography of Rupe Atenea
It is divided into three distinct areas that present markedly different aspects: the east, the center, and the western part.
The middle part was made up of a deep hollow in the living rock, which today, to my regret, is beginning to be filled.
The cave
It is called the cavetta, because it constituted the main stone quarry of the ancient city, the one that could provide the enormous blocks with which the temple of Olympian Jupiter was built: it was therefore a large Latomia, and for this very reason it could not form part of the city proper.
The western part
2. The western part of the Rupe Atenea offers as a characteristic feature the existence of many caves carved into the mountain, and especially along its upper part.
Since the ship has almost entirely been filled in, it is no longer necessary to know or investigate whether from the height of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele to the end, where the Empedocle cut reached, there were caves in this extreme border of the cliff.
Yet I can attest to a fact that can be checked at the provincial offices for this purpose: several years ago; when the South – West canton of the Carabinieri Barracks had to be repaired,
digging to a depth of 20 meters or more, a cave was found hollowed out in the mountain, which had to be filled to avoid possible collapse with consequent damage to the upper building.
This fact authorizes us to believe that other caves could also be found at that depth.
between the Notarial Archives and the church of S. Calogero,
At the current road surface, between the Notarial Archives and the church of S. Calogero, there is a very spacious cave, equipped with a door; but if you observe carefully, you will notice that in front and on the sides the same rock shows traces of four other hollows or caves made around the last one which remained intact, and which were cut when the church of S. Calogero and then the Notarial archive. Here therefore (and it was halfway up the Empedocle cut) an entire system of caves was built, rather than an isolated cave.
Above the same there are three others: one, although modified, is nevertheless recognizable in the De Angelis villa; a second one equipped with a door, on the road that leads to S. Vito below Villa Garibaldi; and a third above the latter, in Villa Garibaldi, and is used as a woodshed.
Any investigation relating to the spaces occupied by the public Villa and the former church and convent of S. Vito, today a judicial prison with bastions and defense works, is useless, since it is well understood that the face of the places was changed during the relevant constructions and adaptations, and then I move on to mention those houses, which are located in the lands adjacent to the prisons, in the Pagliani estate: the former forest of the Monks of S. Vito.
The Caves of Rupe Atenea: Secrets of the Underground
Here in a limited extension several caves are found, one of which is shaped like a right angle at the top, but what I would like to point out is that there is another system of five spacious caves that communicate with each other. If I am not mistaken, they correspond in their concept to those others noted near the church of S. Calogero, and demonstrate that I had not misjudged those traces still existing.
Finally, I note that on the heights of the bottom itself there is another cave, which ends with a hole 20 to 30 meters deep.
From this bottom then up to the top of the Rupe Atenea and preferably along the ridge other caves are found, of which the last is the one hollowed out on the hillock, which forms its summit, on the western side, and which overlooks the road that goes to S. Vito up to the top of the cliff; however, it was equipped with a door from its former owner, Dr. Salvatore Bonfiglio.
The Historical Importance of Manufactured Constructions
Now, the presence of all these caves still existing, (and who knows how many others have been erased by the hand of man in the locations mentioned above, and in those others that can be seen tampered with, such as Villa Picone, the old cemetery , the military powder magazine, several stone quarries) and the fact that they are found in greater numbers near the extreme limit of the North-Western walls;
defense works?
make me think they must have been defense works, rather than private constructions: it is enough to note that those near the church of S. Calogero and the other adjacent ones were located above the Empedocle cut, that is, on a precipice, to keep us away the hypothesis of private homes, in which the presence of women and children was not possible due to the danger of tumbling down there.
This is my impression; in any case it is enough for me to have thus indicated the resistance of these ancient works in the hope that others will one day be able to give us the demonstration of the time in which they were excavated and the use to which they were put.
The walls
3. Another thing worthy of observation is found on the lands below the old cemetery and the military powder magazine; various ancient walls emerged there until they connected with that small hill, which formed the summit of the Rupe Atenea.
the walls of Phalaris?
Instinctively one almost comes to think of the walls erected by Phalaris when he was preparing his coup d’état; but I hasten to declare that it is a simple impression and reminiscence, which would require much investigation to become a judgment.
Me and the doctor. Bonfiglio mentioned we mentioned it to the Superintendent of the time, prof. Salinas, who we conducted on the sites; and he agreed with us that they were ancient works, for which we await the explanation.
An ancient building
4.Finally, Doctor Bonfìglio, when he was the owner of the Rupe, discovered on the hills, near the terminal esplanade, the remains of an important ancient building, and in its middle, the entrance to an underground passage hollowed out in the rock.
Around that time a farmer found a very elegant bronze griffin, which was purchased and is still owned by Comm. Caratozzolo. (The finders of ancient objects never say where they found them, and we understand why)
the public rumor in Agrigento mentioned that underground passage of the Bonfiglio property and little by little, once the version was accepted, it was even claimed that that had been the tomb of the doctor Acrone, and the griffin one of the mortuary ornaments.
The eastern part of Rupe Atenea
5. The eastern part of the Rupe Atenea: almost a kilometer long, it is formed by the bare back of the mountain, smooth and steeply sloping, where vegetal humus does not form and therefore does not allow any vegetation.
Due to this special constitution every cut to the surface is clearly observed, so we can affirm that apart from the works I will talk about, no construction was ever carried out there.
The temple in antis
Towards the eastern end, where the cliff slopes down significantly, a clearing 80 paces long by 28 paces wide was cut (these measurements belong to the Schubring, and given the size of the thing it is not worth checking their accuracy).
In the center of the esplanade a temple in antis was erected, therefore we are authorized to believe it to be very ancient.
Two streets equally hollowed out in the solid stone lead from the foot of the hill to the temple: one turns towards the East, the other in the opposite direction; and then through curves they lead to the two ends of the esplanade.
the ruts left by wagon wheels
On both streets we can observe the furrows left by the wheels of carts markedly imprinted on the rock; the interval between the two furrows, measured by Schubring, is m. 1.37, which therefore must have been the width of the Agrigentinti coconuts.
The fact of those strongly imprinted furrows shows that those streets were very busy and that the temple was accessed on numerous carts, especially on the occasion of sacred processions.
Common opinion has it that the building was dedicated to Ceres and Proserpina. The country church of S. Biagio was then built on his cell.
another cut on the rock
6. On the heights of this eastern part of the Rupe Atenea, about a hundred steps from the summit you can see another cut in the rock; I consider it ancient, so I mention it, although I declare that I cannot explain what purpose it was made for.
It is of limited proportions; the south side is m. 31, 50; on the west side it measures m. 11, 60 on the north side does not have a single front, but several recesses; and overall it measures m. 27, 20.
I don’t think there was alatomy there, because our shell stone in the upper layers becomes brittle and therefore not suitable for construction.
I don’t even believe that cut was intended for the construction of some temple for several reasons, and mainly because of those indentations in the rock.
I could believe it was only made as a temporary shelter for soldiers or observers in the times when the city was under siege.
In any case, apart from these two manufactured works, no other cuts were made to the living rock; nothing else is observed there, except the remains of the old National Guard target.
works built beneath the surface.
7. The most notable thing about this part of the Rupe Atenea consists in the works built beneath the surface.
Our stone is a shell tuff from the Quaternary era: like a sponge it absorbs rainwater, which beats on it to transmit it to the lower layers giving rise to sources of drinking water.
The people of Agrigento, knowing this property of the rock, used it by digging throughout the territory surrounding the Civita degli aquedotti.
the most important spring in the city
As for the large boulder constituting the eastern part of the Atenea hill, it seems that they thought of using it as a large well to obtain the most important source of the city, within the area, or rather within the walls of the city itself; and precisely for this reason they did not want to cover its surface with buildings.
Certainly during the sustained sieges, Agrigento had to surrender due to the lack of supplies, but known for lack of water.
To achieve this goal, the citizens dug a network of underground passages – Schubring counted up to thirty – from which the water filters drop by drop and, collecting in impermeable channels, enters a main artery.
That drainage work still gives the most beautiful water that Agrigento enjoys, although for various reasons, its volume is very small: we call it Bonamurone water from the name of the place where the fountain is located; tasted at the source, especially in the hot months, it is deliciously drinkable.
