State Archives of Agrigento

The Agrigento State Archive was instituted by the organic law of 1 August 1843 and became the Provincial State Archive by Royal Decree no. 1391 of 22 September 1932, State Archive Section with Law no. 2006 of 22 December 1939, and a State Archive with Italian Presidential Decree no. 1409 of 30 September 1963. 
The Archive holds the documentation produced the Realm of the Two Sicilies, as well as the documents issued by the Government offices from the time of Italy’s unification to the present day. It also preserves the archives of public authorities, of families, people, associations and other private organisations that are of particular historical relevance.
The most significant document collections are those belonging to: the Bourbonic authorities, the authority and Deeds of the Prefecture, the Sicilian Land Registry Office, the Deeds of Provincial Councils, the Notary deeds and those of abolished religious corporations (15th – 20th century). Also worthy of note is the collection of historic maps “Topographic, geometric plans and projects (19th century).
Thanks to the Parchium project the Agrigento State Archive has lent a voice to the documents related the history of the safeguarding and enhancement of the Valley of Temples, to contribute to the narrative surrounding the monuments thanks to the evidence provided by the documents. 
In particular, the project has included the deeds of the Agrigento Prefecture that document the beginnings of the confrontation between central and local subjects and institutions to guarantee the protection of the area and its relics, and how this led to the development of an increasingly sophisticated awareness of the value of this heritage.