“Archaeologists Unveil Incredible 2,200-Year-Old Greek Lecture Hall in Sicily: What Secrets of Ancient Education Will It Reveal?”
Believed to be the oldest known Greek auditorium ever discovered, this find provides scholars with an opportunity to understand the experiences of students and teachers in one of ancient Greece’s most important colonies.
Researchers Discover An Impressive Gymnasium At A Former Ancient Greek Colony In Sicily
T. Lappi and M. Trümper/Freie Universität BerlinA map detailing each section of the site.
In 2019, researchers Monika Trümper and Thomas Lappi from the Freie Universität Berlin initiated a large-scale excavation project in Agrigento, Sicily. The project, supported by the Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento, the British School at Rome, and the Politecnico di Bari, aimed at excavating unexplored areas of the ancient city.
The city, known as Akragas in Greek, was founded circa 580 B.C.E. and was the largest Greek colony in Sicily. It is particularly famous for its temples and sanctuaries, some of which are the best preserved Greek temples outside of Greece.
Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0A gigantic Atlantean statue from the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily.
With the aim of uncovering more of the city’s history, researchers began surveying ruins long believed to be an ancient gymnasium at the center of the city. The area had been briefly excavated between the 1950s and early 2000s, turning up evidence of a 200-meter-long race track and a swimming pool.
In the ancient Greek world, gymnasiums were not only places for physical fitness, but mental fitness as well.
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