An important discovery in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento reveals an ancient structure that served as both an auditorium and a changing room.
These days, important news is coming regarding Agrigento, Italian Capital of Culture 2025. In particular, excavations in the gymnasium area of the Valley of the Temples have uncovered a structure believed to have had a dual function as an auditorium and changing room, as indicated by some inscriptions in Greek.
The area had already been the subject of archaeological investigations between 1960 and 2005, and since 2020, excavations have resumed with greater intensity, thanks to international collaboration between the Freie Universität Berlin, the Polytechnic University of Bari, and the Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento.
The discovered complex includes a rectangular room with seats arranged in a radial pattern and a large hall of 23 x 11 meters (approximately 75 x 36 feet), characterized by benches along the walls and a beaten earth floor. It is believed that this hall was the apodyterion, the changing room of the gymnasium, but also a place for intellectual training and public performances.
Supporting this hypothesis are two blocks with Greek inscriptions traced in red on white plaster, mentioning a gymnasiarch – a prominent figure in the management of the gymnasium – who financed the roof restoration and dedicated the structure to the gods Hermes and Heracles.
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The structure presents an important innovative character that, in terms of design and intended use, would precede similar architectures by at least two centuries in the Greek world, suggesting that Akragas (the ancient name of the city of Agrigento) was a leading center in the design of educational spaces of the time.