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1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a seaport of Sicily, in the province of Girgenti, 24 m. S.E. of Girgenti direct and 54 m. by rail. Pop. (1901) 22,931. It occupies the site of the town which Phintias of Acragas (Agrigentum) erected after the destruction of Gela, about 281 B.C., by the Mamertines, and named after himself. The river Salso, which flows into the sea on the east of the town, is the ancient Himera Meridionalis. The promontory at the foot of which the town is situated, the Poggio di Sant' Angelo, is the Ecnomus (Eknomon) of the Greeks, and upon its slopes are scanty traces of ancient structures and rock tombs. It was off this promontory that the Romans gained the famous naval victory over the Carthaginians in the spring of 256 B.C., while the plain to the north was the scene of the defeat of Agathocles by Hamilcar in 310 B.C. The modern town is mainly important as a shipping port for sulphur.