{"id":4477,"date":"2016-12-22T14:49:51","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T14:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visionpubl.com\/en\/?p=4477"},"modified":"2016-12-22T16:03:16","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T16:03:16","slug":"sanctuary-of-aphaia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visionpubl.com\/en\/cities\/aigina\/sanctuary-of-aphaia\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanctuary of Aphaia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sanctuary of Aphaia<\/strong> is a place of worship on the Greek island of Aigina<\/strong>,\u00a0dedicated to a deity which, judging from the sculptures on the pediment, was probably Athena<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However, an inscription of dedication refers to the “oikos<\/em> (house) of Aphaia<\/strong>“, and it is probable that the temple was devoted to Athena, but that the local population had assimilated her to the local deity<\/strong>, who may be of Cretan origin.<\/p>\n

The site had been used as a place of worship<\/strong> since the XVth<\/sup> century BC, as testified by the finding of small Mycenean idols<\/strong>, and the plan of the sanctuary took shape towards the end of the VIIIth<\/sup> century, when the sacred area, flanked by a building which has been identified as the “house of the priests<\/strong>“, was designed to enclose a terrace with a central altar and a cistern.<\/p>\n

The construction of the propylon<\/em><\/strong> dates to the VIIth<\/sup> century BC, and perhaps the building of a first temple.<\/p>\n


\n\u00a9 Photo credits by Alun Salt<\/a> under CC-BY-SA-2.0<\/p>\n

In 580 BC the terrace was enlarged<\/strong> and a second altar was built, together with a stone Doric temple which may have been tetrastyle (with four columns across the front) or distyle in antis<\/em><\/strong> (with two columns in the middle and the walls of the pronaos<\/em><\/strong> advancing to the same level).<\/p>\n

The monumental phase<\/strong> visible today was constructed following a fire. The new temple, in stuccoed local limestone, is a Doric peripteral, with six columns across the short sides and eleven down the long ones.<\/p>\n

The naos<\/em><\/strong> (cell) is divided into three aisles by double-storey colonnades each consisting of five columns, and may be reached both via the pronaos<\/em><\/strong> and via the opisthodomos<\/em><\/strong>; it is a peripteral temple with 6 Doric pillars on each fa\u00e7ade and 12 on each long side, made of local poros stone.<\/p>\n

The roof<\/strong>, which is covered in marble tiles in the visible parts, was decorated with central akroteria<\/em><\/strong> in the form of korai<\/em><\/strong> and side akroteria<\/em><\/strong> in the form of sphinxes.<\/p>\n

The pediments were probably created in two separate phases: the west pediment depicts duels taking place before Athena<\/strong>, during the expedition of Achilles and Agamemnon against Troy<\/strong>, and it may be traced to the late Archaic period;<\/p>\n

the east pediment also shows scenes of fighting<\/strong> between warriors as Athena watches on, but it seems to refer to Herakles’s<\/strong> expedition<\/strong> against Troy<\/strong> and exhibits the characteristics of the Severe style, datable to the 480s<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

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\"Athens<\/div>\n

Do you want to know more about the Sanctuary of Aphaia<\/strong> and the history of\u00a0Greece?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out our guidebook to Ancient Greece<\/a>, with detailed history and Past & Present images of the Acropolis<\/strong>, the Parthenon<\/strong>, Olympia<\/strong> and all the greatest historical and archaeological sites of Ancient Greece.<\/p>\n

Check out our Guide Book to Ancient Greece<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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How to get to the Sanctuary of Aphaia<\/h2>\n