A small square holding a monument to Empedocles, the pre-Socratic philosopher born in Akragas in the 5th century BC, who proposed that everything in the world is made of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water, an idea that shaped Western science for two thousand years afterward.
This piazzetta is traditionally treated as the starting point for a walk through the historic centre, feeding directly into Via Atenea, the long street that threads together most of the old town's churches, palazzi, and daily life.
