![]() From the clusters of buds that form the globular shapes found at the base of the trunk, they continuously form new trunks that overlap over the centuries. The age of these trees is considerable, but impossible to determine. “Trees not to the measure of human life and which therefore have something to do with faith and religion”, wrote Leonardo Sciascia, referring to some Sicilian olives. The grafting of wild olives, or the more ancient techniques of propagation, may have given rise to the olive trees of the Valley, classified today as 'monumental', due to a culmination of centuries of stories, legends, rites, and the sacred value of the species. which only the magic touch of the Creator could do justice”, as English writer Henry Swinburne wrote in 1777. Together with almond trees, the huge 'Saracen olive trees', as mentioned by Pirandello in his novel 'The Old and the Young', constitute the “forest of almond and olive trees” of the Valley, giving rise to ”groups of wonderful trees. Olive trees and fertile cornfields delight the eye in every direction”. The almond cultivations are just as extensive, and the almonds are eaten while still unripe, seeming to me much tastier than when they are ripe also, they are also very healthy. the fruits are all excellent in their species. ![]() The Valley, he wrote, "is divided into fertile fields. In 1794, Friedrich Leopold, Count of Stolberg, from an aristocratic Danish family, a friend of Munther and Goethe, found in Agrigento the ideal atmosphere for his tastes as poet, scholar and lover of the classical world. to which only the magic touch of the Creator could do justice”. Swinburne, baronet from an ancient Catholic family who visited Agrigento in 1777, wrote: 'the ruins of the ancient city are clearly visible amid groups of beautiful evergreen trees and flowering almond trees. it is a landscape of delights, a veritable Eden”. of all the production that the earth can administer, planted alternately with the prettiest varieties. is covered with vineyards, olive trees, almond trees. Von Riedesel (1767), “the slope of the city down to the sea. This is confirmed in the reports of those who made the Grand Tour travellers who, having travelled for the archaeological remains, discovered rich farming in a landscape of extraordinary fertility (Barbera, 2003). Many are its gardens, well known are its commodities”. The agricultural success of the Agrigento region is underpinned by its fertility, a feature that caught the attention of Al-Idrisi, the Arab geographer at the Norman court, who in 1138 visited the city perched on the hill which “possesses orchards and lush gardens, as well as a wide variety of fruit products. A traditional agricultural landscape whose foundation seems very distant: in 480 BC, Diodorus was already reporting the presence of vineyards “of exceptional size and beauty” and “olive trees, whose abundant production was destined for Carthaginian trade.”. The landscape of the Valley is the result of nature meeting the genius of man, of the slow evolution of the relationship between nature and culture, of a collective project which has shown the necessity of working with the resources available and the characteristics of the environment. ![]() In recent years, the landscape has also been enriched by areas of reforestation, mainly with pine and eucalyptus trees. Also important are the strips of scrubland, of rupicolous and riparian communities on certain stretches of the rivers. In areas where the availability of water resources is greater, there is no lack of 'gardens' of irrigated citrus trees and orchards. According to the classification proposed by Meeus (1995) for European agricultural landscapes, this is attributable to the type of 'mixed cultivation': on the best flat or sub-flat lands, the almond and the olive prevail over arable crops and vines, while carob, pistachio and prickly pear are present in the poorest ground or with outcroppings of rocks. The creation of a Park of the Valley of the Temples openly called 'archaeological and landscape' under Regional Law 20 of 2000 confirms the increased awareness of the values of the Valley and its landscape. Because of the archaeological monuments and agricultural and natural landscape that it contains and preserves, the Valley of the Temples has been named a UNESCO 'World Heritage Site', which not only confirms its extraordinary cultural value but also reinforces the belief that it constitutes a valuable resource in terms of cultural landscape, the expression of a dynamic interaction between man and nature, and evidence of a long and uninterrupted evolution (Barbera, Rose, 2000).
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