Temple of Hera (Juno)

Agrigento, Sicily, 1998

Agrigento, Greek Akragas, was founded in 581 BC in order to keep an eye on Carthage. Judging by the large number of temples on the hill – over ten have been identified to date – Carthage bore a great deal of watching.

The Temple of Hera (Juno) was built in the mid-5th century BC, when the Greeks occupied Sicily. Its name change, from Hera (Greek) to Juno (Roman), dates to the Roman conquest of Sicily in the 3d century BC. The temple has a hexastyle peripteros (six-column porch); its column count is a canonical six by thirteen.