AGRIGENTO, SICILY—The Valley of the Temples in the Sicilian city of Agrigento is one of the island’s most extraordinary sites—yet it has never been completely excavated. The Art Newspaper reports that archaeologists discovered a previously unknown building during a recent geophysical survey of more than 30,000 square feet of an area near the main temples. The ancient city of Akragas (modern Agrigento) was settled in the sixth century B.C. by colonists from Greece and became a major religious center. “As we are very close to a sanctuary, we thought that there might be remains of unknown monuments in this area, and the geophysical anomalies clearly revealed their existence,” said archaeologist Sebastiano Imposa of the University of Catania. The new building, the researchers explained, may have been connected to the city’s religious workings. Imposa and his team have also conducted a small test excavation at the site and found several blocks of a wall likely belonging to the new structure. They will continue excavations and hope to find more of the newly discovered building in the future. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. To read about the discovery of a lost theater in Agrigento, go to "Sicily's Lost Theater."
