**6. Discussion**

#### *6.1. Main Issues of Agricultural–Forest Management in the Valley of the Temples*

The current economic–productive structure of the agriculture in the Valley of the Temples is rather particular compared to the other contiguous agricultural areas [52,53]. Changes in the ownership structure that have taken place in the last forty years (the stateowned areas of the Park) have upset the existing corporate structure. The land subject to constraints was acquired by the public domain, and its managemen<sup>t</sup> was given in concession to the former owners who requested it.

Before the emergence of this new reality, the land was mainly concentrated in the hands of a few landowning families. Nothing remains of this production structure today. Instead, many families cultivate only small areas of land, given in concession, around their country houses. There are fewer and fewer small farms. The problem is that it is not possible to start a profitable agricultural business in such limited areas.

Among the causes of the abandonment of raising crops is the difference between the high cost of cultivation operations and the low value of the products. The production from the gardens is characterised by local and ancient varieties and is completely unsaleable. Though their cultivation may have important results from the point of view of landscape conservation [55], it has no value from a strictly productive one [56].

Other causes are: the obsolescence of production systems; the aging of the rural population and the abandonment of agricultural activity by elderly farmers; the loss of the technical knowledge of traditional agriculture, once handed down from generation to generation.

#### *6.2. The Living Museum of the Almond Tree for Safeguarding Intraspecific Biodiversity*

From the analyses of the historical iconography, travellers' testimonies and historical photographs, it is clear that the cultivation of the almond trees has taken on an important economic role since the 18th century. However, it was in the second half of the 19th century and in the first decades of the 20th century that a vast wooded area called the "almond forest" was formed in the Valley of the Temples.

In the 1950s, the surface of the specialised almond groves of the Valley was about 60 hectares, while that associated with olive trees (mainly) was almost 540 hectares. By the end of the century, however, due to the problems outlined above, the specialised almond groves were reduced to just over 10 hectares, while in association with the olive trees they were reduced to about 400 hectares.

Most of the residual areas occupied by the "almond forest" are now public property and in a state of decay; this was caused by the death of many plants and the thinning of the forest. The almond tree species, among all those cultivated in the Valley, is the richest in intraspecific biodiversity. There are numerous varieties that, over time, have been selected and consolidated in this campaign and are now at risk of extinction.

To address this problem, and in general to save the different varieties of Sicilian almonds from extinction, the Institute of Arboreal Cultivation of the University of Palermo, in agreemen<sup>t</sup> with the Superintendence of Agrigento and the Province of Agrigento, has launched a living collection of Sicilian almond varieties [57,58].

The Valley of the Temples was chosen as the ideal place to carry out the project. So, in 1996, a new almond grove, called the *Living Museum of the Almond Tree*, was planted on an area of about five hectares in the San Biagio valley, at the foot of the hill dominated by the Temple of Juno Lacinia (Figure 9). The new almond grove hosts over 300 varieties of almond trees from different places in Sicily: it is a genetic bank that holds the intraspecific varieties of the species. Four trees of each of species, specially grafted with branches taken from the trees of the Valley of the Temples, are cultivated for the purpose of studying and preserving their genetic heritage. Many varieties have been selected from plants born spontaneously and whose productive characteristics have been appreciated. The plantation has the appearance of a traditional almond grove where, mixed with the almond trees, there are olive, carob, pistachio, mulberry and rowan trees, as well as shrubs characteristic of the Valley's arboriculture [59,60].

The Museum is an open-air museum that has the scientific purpose of facilitating the study of the genetic diversity of the almond tree in Sicily, identifying those varieties that best lend themselves to maintaining the quality and excellence of the taste of the Sicilian pastry tradition. The Museum also has educational purposes because it exhibits the cultivation techniques of traditional agriculture of the Agrigento area and contributes to the conservation and enhancement of the centuries-old landscape of the Valley of the Temples, encouraging cultural, ecological and educational tourism [61].

The University of Palermo and the Valley of the Temples Park have collaborated together on the establishment of a laboratory for the categorisation and conservation of germplasm. The laboratory, set up inside Case Fiandaca (an old 19th-century farmhouse), is playing a fundamental role in the study of biodiversity and landscape restoration of degraded agricultural and natural systems for the protection and enhancement of the cultural landscape of the Valley of the Temples. A permanent exhibition on biodiversity and traditional agriculture, an iconographic exhibition of the landscape of the Valley, a permanent exhibition on traditional Sicilian almond-based pastries and, finally, specific tasting and sale stations for agricultural products from the Valley of the Temples are planned in the old rural house.

(**a**) (**b**)

(**c**)

**Figure 9.** (**a**) The Living Museum of the Almond Tree with the old building destined for the "Ethno-anthropological Almond Museum". Francesco Sottile ph, published in Barbera, Monte, Sottile, 2005, https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/228864141, accessed on 12 April 2021; (**b**) Case Fiandaca, headquarters of the laboratory for the categorisation and conservation of germplasm. Photographic archive of the Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples, www.parcovalledeitempli.it/paesaggio/il-museo-vivente-del-mandorlo/, accessed on 12 April 2021; (**c**) Almond Tree Museum overview. Photographic archive of the Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples, www.parcovalledeitempli.it/paesaggio/il-museo-vivente-del-mandorlo/, accessed on 12 April 2021.

### *6.3. The Mediterranean Garden*

Among the most precious and appreciated resources of the historical–cultural landscape of the Valley of the Temples are the so-called *Jardini* (Mediterranean gardens consisting of fruit trees and irrigated gardens) [62]. In Mediterranean gardens, the main cultivation matrix is made up of citrus fruits (in different varieties), to which are added: persimmons, prickly pears, figs, peaches, pears, pomegranates, quinces, walnuts, apricots. The gardens, small in size and located near springs, constitute a particularly productive polycultural system throughout the year [63].

Unlike dry arboriculture, gardens need care and watering throughout the year [64]. These landscape tiles were the ones that unfortunately suffered the most damage due to the series of factors mentioned above.

One of the most significant Mediterranean gardens of the Valley of the Temples, and which miraculously survived the Great Acceleration, is located along the narrow valley of the Kolymbethra, located between the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Vulcan (Figure 10). Literary sources describe the Kolymbethra as an artificial reservoir, an ingenious hydraulic work carried out by Theron in the 5th century BC; Diodorus Siculus describes it as "a large basin ( ... ) with a perimeter of seven stages ( ... ) twenty fathoms deep ( ... ) where the Phaeacian Aqueducts, a nursery of refined flora and abundant wild fauna" (Diodorus Siculus, *Bibliotheca Historica*, book XI, 25, 1st century AD; author's translation).

**Figure 10.** Kolymbethra Valley. The garden, brought back to life and integrated by the FAI, is highlighted in colour. It is located within the archaeological area of the Greek settlement of Akragas, between the sanctuary of the Dioscuri and the Temple of Vulcan.

Having lost its original function as an artificial lake, the reservoir was subsequently transformed, with adequate terracing, into a Mediterranean garden. The French traveller Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non in his notes, published at the beginning of the 19th century (*Voyage pittoresque à Naples et en Sicil*, 1829), testifies that, already at that time, the valley had taken on the form of a luxuriant citrus grove (Figure 11).

The oral testimonies collected confirmed the presence of a Mediterranean garden which, already at the beginning of the 20th century, appeared very ancient, while none of the contemporary peasants recalled the initial plan or remembered who the architect had been. The garden was cultivated continuously until the 1980s. Subsequently, both due to aging and the lack of generational turnover of the workforce, and to the status of the archaeological area as state property, the garden was abandoned by the peasants. It has thus been transformed from a luxuriant place to a heap of brambles, also used illegally as a landfill.

Faced with the risk of forever losing this heritage of considerable landscape, genetic and cultural value, an initiative to start the process of recovering the ancient garden has been started [65]. The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage of Agrigento, the University of Palermo and the FAI (*Fondo Ambiente Italiano*) have been involved in support of the initiative.

For the recovery of the Kolymbethra, the formula of the free concession of a public domain to a private body was used; in October 1999, the FAI was granted the managemen<sup>t</sup>

of the garden for a period of 25 years, dealing with restoration, maintenance, promotion, opening to the public and tourist use.

**Figure 11.** Panoramic view of the ancient Akragas water reservoir. Drawing by Ch. L. Chatelet. Engraving by P.E. The Epine. 1785. Illustration extracted from De Miro [29].

From 1999 to 2001, the garden was patiently rebuilt thanks to the collaboration between the Department of Arboreal Cultures of the University of Palermo, the FAI, the Agrigento Superintendence and the contribution of elderly farmers and labourers of the local area, custodians of the ancient and traditional techniques of cultivation, reproduction, pruning and collection and regimentation of the waters [66].

The garden was returned to the public in 2001, equipped with new routes, guided tours and a new outdoor dining area. The dry-stone walls that supported the terraces that shaped the valley floor have been restored (Figure 12), at the centre of which the waters coming from the numerous hypogea of Greek origin (Figure 13), still functioning today, are channelled. Through pruning, grafts and new plants, the Mediterranean garden has been restored with all its characteristics: on the slopes between the tuff walls and the valley floor, there are olive trees (*Olea europaea*) (Figure 14), almond trees (*Prunus dulcis*) and pistachios (*Pistacia vera*), the only species capable of producing in such inhospitable places. Everywhere, then, various fruit trees are used: from pomegranates (*Punica granatum*), located mainly along the edges of the river banks to myrtles (*Myrtus communis*), which today we find (in almost arboreal forms) cultivated on the terraces; fig trees (*Ficus carica*), pear trees (*Pyrus communis*), apple trees (*Malus domestica*), plum trees (*Prunus domestica*), apricot trees (*Prunus armeniaca*), medlar trees (*Eryobotria japonica*), persimmon trees (*Diospiros kaki*), quince trees (*Cydonia oblonga*), white mulberry trees (*Morus alba*), red mulberry trees (*Morus nigra*), prickly pear (*Opuntia ficus-indica*). The trees are seemingly distributed in no apparent order; in reality, they are distributed according to a practical criterion used by local farmers who, having identified the planting site, have chosen the most suitable plant to enhance its production potential [67].

**Figure 12.** Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Kolymbethra Garden. New visiting routes. Restoration of dry-stone walls.

(**a**) (**b**) 

**Figure 13.** (**a**) Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Kolymbethra Garden. Hypogeum dating back to the Greek era for the channeling of water, still functioning today; (**b**) *Cunnutti* for the canalisation of the water, an irrigation system of Arab origin, still functioning today.

**Figure 14.** Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Kolymbethra Garden. Secular olive tree.

A vegetable garden (Figure 15) has been created near a water collection tank where seasonal vegetables are grown in rotation. The traditional irrigation system of ancient Arab origins [68] has been restored and uses the water that still flows from the ancient aqueducts. It is a system based on the channelling of water which, made to flow through channels and controlled by the opening of special shutters (Figure 13b), reaches the fruit trees.

(**a**) (**b**) 

**Figure 15.** (**a**) Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Kolymbethra Garden. Garden maintenance; (**b**) portion of the garden grown with seasonal vegetables for educational demonstrations.

It should be emphasised that the restoration of the Kolymbethra garden is mainly for cultural and museum purposes. In fact, the visit to the garden is offered to tourists who visit the archaeological area of the Valley of the Temples with an integrated entrance ticket. As mentioned above, restoring a state of equilibrium in a pre-disturbance phase cannot be adopted as a generalisable method because the surrounding situations have changed. Even in the agricultural managemen<sup>t</sup> of Kolymbethra, for example, the new technology of sub-irrigation was introduced to integrate the irrigation carried out with the Arab system. In this case, in fact, it was estimated that the climatic regime in the Arab era was much more humid and, therefore, there was abundant water available for irrigation. Today the climatic regime is more arid and, therefore, it is necessary to save as much water as possible. Subirrigation, by considerably reducing the dispersion of water by evaporation, allows significant water savings and produces better results for the trees.

One of the most important values of Kolymbethra is that it is a formidable source of biodiversity; of particular value is the genetic heritage that its trees preserve: the only species of orange is represented here by as many as nine ancient varieties, largely no longer cultivated (Figure 16). This garden also preserves the traces of traditional agricultural techniques, eliminated elsewhere by the modernisation process of agriculture which, in the last fifty years, has profoundly reshaped the Sicilian agricultural landscape. Furthermore, traditional agricultural landscapes preserve biodiversity in terms of flora, fauna and habitats [69]. The vegetation that grows spontaneously on the calcarenite steep slopes of the Kolymbethra is remarkable. It consists of Mediterranean maquis dominated by wild olive [70,71], in the sunny and xeric slopes, and laurel formations in the shaded part of the valley, which represent in Sicily a vegetation of particular phytogeographic interest [72].

**Figure 16.** Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Kolymbethra Garden. Variety of cultivated citrus fruits.

#### *6.4. The Productive Dimensions of the Historical Landscape. The Landscape Regeneration Project*

The Living Museum of the Almond Tree and the restoration of the Kolymbethra Garden were the first sprouting of a rebirth which blossomed after almost half a century of hostility towards the archaeological area of the Valley of the Temples, thanks to the collaboration between universities, the public administration, the third sector and private entrepreneurs. This effort represents a model of good practices for the enhancement of the archaeological and landscape heritage since, from a repressive model imposed by the State, we have passed to a collaborative and proactive model that also leaves room for private initiative.

Following the success of the two projects described above, the Archaeological Park Authority has undertaken other important initiatives to manage the 1400 hectares of land in a sustainable way. To actively safeguard the traditional agricultural landscape, productive functions have been associated with cultural, ethical, aesthetic and recreational functions.

The set of initiatives undertaken by the Park Authority gave life to the Landscape Regeneration project. Starting from the landscape as an element of creative inspiration, the project pursues the objective of keeping the historical memory of ancient production practices alive, proposing them for cultural and educational purposes. Some areas of the park, not containing archaeological finds have been used for organic farming, for the production of high-quality food and wine products, recovering and updating, where possible, the agronomic practices of the ancient Sicilian tradition.

To achieve these objectives, the Park Authority made use of the collaboration of the University of Palermo and leading companies in the agri-food sector. Other partners in the project are the Kaos Cultural and Railway Activities Association, for the reactivation of the railway line that crosses the Park, and FAI, which manages the Kolymbethra Garden.

The Landscape Regeneration project pursues four main objectives which are integrated with each other: appreciating the environmental heritage, agricultural production, environmental education, recovery and requalification of the landscape. For each issue, the project foresees specific actions, listed below.

### 6.4.1. Appreciating the Environmental Heritage

In addition to the integration of six hectares of irrigated orchards of the Kolymbethra Garden as an integral part of the use of the Archaeological Park, three other itineraries have been designed: a visit to the *Goethe Garden*, a vegetable garden created in the land around Casa Barbadoro, an ancient rural building at the foot of the Temple of Concordia, featuring the crops and agronomic techniques of the late 18th century, as described by Goethe in his travelogue; an *environmental itinerary*, almost four kilometres long, from the Temple of Vulcan to the Temple of Demeter, where the unique characteristic of the local ecosystems are illustrated; the *Vegetable Patriarchs* itinerary, to become familiar with the monumental centuries-old trees, including olive, carob, pistachios and myrtles trees (for the identification, cataloguing and localisation of monumental trees, and the cataloguing of plant and animal species, see Politecnica, 2003).

### 6.4.2. Agricultural Production

Since 2005, the Park Authority has registered the *Diodoros* trademark to identify and certify the quality of the agricultural production of the Park's land. The olive groves and vineyards have been granted, in concession to local agricultural companies, the highest quality profile which, with their methodological and production experience, have made it possible to recreate and revive high quality traditional products, exploiting natural resources hitherto unused. More than 152 hectares of land have been tendered for private bidding, and the use of more than 117 hectares has been requested by and granted to private operators. The basket of products under the Diodoros brand, initially consisting of oil and wine, has been enriched with products derived from the processing of almonds, *Sicilian black* bee honey and the milk of *Girgentane* goats, whose breeding has recently been reintroduced in the valley.

As Vesalon and Cretan observe [73], the function of the brand is, above all, to represent, innovate or construct a specific imagery for a place and to transmit it through new narratives. The power of branding is, above all, to create or reshape the image of a place. In the context of the Valley of the Temples, the Diodoros brand has worked very well in transforming the imaginary of Agrigento from a place of illegality into a territory of excellence which, in the shadow of the temples, produces organic products with eco-sustainable techniques inspired by the most ancient agricultural traditions whose origins date back to the ancient Greek and Arab cultures.

The initiative has received the appreciation and emotional involvement of the local population for the rediscovery of traditional production methods and local products; for private partners, the project represented an opportunity for investment and development, creating jobs and generating a new economy.

In 2014 the *Agri Gentium* project was launched in which more than 152 hectares of agricultural land in the Park were offered to three types of subjects to pursue differentiated purposes: social gardens to be allocated free of charge to citizens to promote socialisation processes and stimulate the sense of belonging; agricultural areas to be used for rehabilitation and social reintegration activities for disadvantaged people; new productive agriculture with products to be marketed under the Diodoros brand for the recovery of uncultivated or abandoned areas for production purposes.

### 6.4.3. Environmental Education

The Living Museum of the Almond Tree has been expanded with the planting of olive and pistachio varieties and has been transformed into the *Living Museum of Non-irrigated* *Fruit Species in Sicily*. The museum has also been integrated with the *Laboratory for the Characterisation and Conservation of Almond, Olive and Pistachio Germplasm*.

The *Oliver: From Olive to Oil* environmental education program was developed, aimed primarily at school-age children; the children are directly involved in the production processes, from the harvesting olives in the field to the subsequent pressing in the mill.

### 6.4.4. Restoration and Requalification of the Landscape

In 2009, the *Thousand Almonds* project was launched which made it possible to plant a thousand almond seedlings in the Valley to contribute to the reconstruction of the damaged ancient heritage of almonds. The project was developed and implemented by the FAI, together with the Office for Infrastructural Interventions of the Regional Agriculture and Forestry Department, the *Feudo Principi di Butera* and the Department of Arboreal Cultures of the University of Palermo.

In collaboration with the Kaos Railways Culture and Activities Association, an alternative mobility project was launched through the recovery of the ancient railway line, dating back to 1874, which crosses the park.

Thanks to its holistic vision of the landscape as a natural and cultural ecosystem, the Landscape Regeneration project won the *Italian Landscape Award* in March 2017, assigned by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism. The project was also nominated to represent Italy in the 5th edition of the *Landscape Award of the Council of Europe* for maintaining a harmonious interaction between nature and culture through the protection of the landscape.
