San Leone - lido di Agrigento
B&B MiraValle Agrigento is only 7 kilometers from the golden beaches of San Leone lido.
San Leone is a suburb and the main seaside resort of Agrigento.
It's on the "Punta Akragas" (Akragas Tip), near the mouth of the Akragas River, also known as San River. Known to be "the City of the Temples beach", San leone takes its name from Pope Leone II (682-683), who was Sicilian.
Before the Arab colonisation it was the emporium of the city of Agrigento, a very popular site among navigators and sailors from Mycenaean Greece, who bought sulfur and rock salt.
In the early years of the twentieth century, near San Leone, namely in Cannatello, Angelo Mosso discovered the remains of a settlement-emporium dating to 14th - 12th century BC.
Together with Thapsos, it is considered the most representative site of the Middle Bronze Age culture in Sicily.
The excavations have unearthed the fortified part of the village where the ruling family used to live and where the local residents used to take refuge during enemy raids.
The Sicani village was delimited by a mighty double ring of walls with a thickness of about 8 meters. The inner circuit of the defensive wall is the oldest and it was partially destroyed by a fire.
inside the village there are the remains of circular and rectilinear huts. Excavations have revealed three successive phase of settlement. Aegean and Cypriot pottery and un urn containing four spearheads, two swords and a bronze axe were found in Cannatello area.
Cannatello is unique in Sicily for the range of imported ceramics that have been reported there: the excavations have revealed a total of forty-one Aegean or Cypriot pots; this dicovery has produced evidence of an Aegean or Cypriot influence in the 13th century in a location called The Marina di Girgenti. This area was before attended by the Aegean-Cipriots who used it to stock up on sulphur from the mines of Monte Grande, probably the oldest sulphur mine in the western world. Sulphur was a very precious mineral in ancient times, real catalyst of human progress because it was useful to reach the melting temperature of metals. It was also used to purify and disinfect.
The Aegean-cipriot navigators use the Cannatello emporium to stock up on sulphur and rock salt along the route linking Cyprus and the Aegean with North Africa, Sardinia and Iberia.
In the 7th-6th century BC it will be replaced by the Akragas emporium at the mouth of the river and, centuries later, by the "Caricatore di Girgenti" ("Girgenti Charger"), that is today Porto Empedocle.
Due to its proximity to the Valley of the Temples, San Leone is one of the best beach resort near Agrigento. Every year this amazing seaside offers its hospitality to many tourists and locals, thanks to its stunning view, its miles of golden beaches, the dunes and Maddalusa; they are so extensive that you can always find a quiet spot. You can enjoy a romantic sunset walking along the Seafront Falcone Borsellino, where there are copious bars, restaurants and cafés.
Source: Wikipedia
