In the Hellenistic and Roman quarter of Sicily's Valley of the Temples, archaeologists have closed out an eleventh season of excavation with a discovery that traces one building's life across eight centuries, from the third century BC through the fifth century AD, and offers a rare, tangible glimpse of Christianity taking root on the island.
Mosaic uncovered at Agrigento. Credit: Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi
The research is a joint effort between the Ravenna campus of the University of Bologna and the Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples, part of a collaboration the two institutions have maintained since 2016. This season’s work concentrated on the quarter’s fourth insula, uncovering a building whose successive construction phases are documented through layers of calcarenite flooring, cocciopesto, a durable waterproofed surface made from crushed pottery and lime, and finally a polychrome mosaic laid down in the Late Antique period.
A mosaic cleaned, and a basin that raised more questions
Restoration specialists at the park, working under the supervision of restorer Marilanda Rizzo Pinna, have already begun cleaning and consolidating the mosaic itself. Its decorative patterns fit comfortably within the aesthetic conventions typical of the Late Antique period, though specialists are continuing a more detailed technical and compositional analysis to pin down its specifics.
Archaeologists cleaning the newly discovered mosaic at the excavation site. Credit: Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi
As striking as the mosaic is, it was not what most captured researchers’ attention. That distinction belongs to a sealed quadrangular basin found within one of the building’s rooms. Inside, excavators recovered a genuinely varied set of materials, coins, the bone remains of small animals, and several amphora stoppers, one of which carries an engraved Christian monogram.
Christian monogram engraved on an amphora stopper. Credit: Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi
A building’s clues point toward faith
Giuseppe Lepore, professor of classical archaeology at the University of Bologna’s Ravenna campus, explained why this particular building has drawn such interest. Several clues, he said, seem to connect this space to the Christian religion, which began organizing itself within the cities of the Roman world, and in Sicily specifically, between the third and fourth centuries AD. He singled out the sealed basin as a find of real significance, noting that the small animal bones recovered from it were most likely the remains of ritual meals, found alongside the coins and amphora stoppers, including the one bearing the Christian monogram.
Maria Serena Rizzo, an archaeological official with the Agrigento park, placed the find within a broader pattern researchers have been tracing over recent years. That ongoing work, she said, is gradually revealing what amounts to a genuine Christian city taking shape within Agrigento, complete with its own cult buildings, necropolises, and dedicated ritual spaces.
A quarter with a very long memory
The continuity of occupation documented in this fourth block, spanning distinct construction phases from the Republican era through the imperial period and into Late Antiquity, gives researchers an unusually complete record for studying how domestic and public spaces in a Sicilian city actually changed over time. Some reports on the find also note a possible connection between this building and a nearby cult site established within the remains of an older bath complex, a link researchers say would further reinforce the picture of an active Christian community taking shape in this part of the city.
Excavation work has proceeded under conservation protocols combining precise archaeological documentation with immediate preventive measures, carried out under the supervision of the park’s own restoration specialists, ensuring that fragile evidence like the mosaic and the sealed basin’s contents survives intact for the more detailed study still to come.
Sources: ANSA (July 17, 2026); Teleacras; AgrigentoNotizie; Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi.
I love this! I’ve been to Agrigento twice but never seen it. Where is it? Isn’t it the most fascinating place?