Ancient greek temples

Buildings and monuments are the most remarkable subjects illustrated on ancient coinage. The engravings of these structures are important because they often describe monuments that have disappeared from history without trace. In fact, the coins may be the only surviving physical records that such edifices ever existed. M. Tameanko.

This thesis deals with the archaeological site of Brauron, a highly respected sanctuary of Attika during the antiquity. The excavation works in the middle of the 20th century brought to light the central structures of the sanctuary, the most significant among them being the temple of Artemis and a Π-shaped stoa, along with an elongated courtyard. However, the continuous exposure of the monuments to weathering, water damage and the human activity and the presentation of the monumental complex to the public necessitate the execution of new works on the site. The survey revealed that the temple of Artemis measured about 10.45 × 20.20 m. and was of Doric order, distyle in antis, with a prodomos, a three-naves cella and an adyton. The restoration proposals, aiming at protecting and preserving the remains and enhancing their presentation, include the restoration of the temple, the restoration of the toichobate of the stoa and the courtyard and the return of the ground inside and around the three monuments to the ancient level.

1. Σ. Ραπτόπουλου: "Μερμελέγκας - ή ο αγνός πατριωτικός πρωτογονισμός των εκνόμων του 1821", περ. ΤΥΡΒΗ, Χειμών 2021-2022.
2. Πόθεν τα περί "Ναού του Κρόνου" εν Μυκόνω ; Πρώτο σχέδιο της ανακοίνωσης του Σ. Ραπτόπουλου στο Δ' Κυκλαδολογικό Συνέδριο, Τήνος, Σεπτ. 2021

The earliest antae buildings in the Northern Black Sea littoral
The emergence of the first public buildings in ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region must be dated to the
beginning of the third quarter of the 6th cen. BC, although the most of the reliably recorded structures of this type are
dated to not earlier than the last quarter of the same century. Archaic and early Classical buildings with antae have
been by now revealed within the composition of the public centres of Borysthenes (Berezan settlement), Olbia, the
Bosporan cities of Phanagoria and Nymphaion.
These buildings have a number of features in common (Fig. 1, 1–7). Firstly, they are very small: the internal area
of their naoi is close to the ordinary dimensions of separate rooms in multichamber dwelling houses of the same
period. The thickness and construction of the walls of these buildings, and the width of the covered aisles (i. e., possibly,
the construction of the ceiling) also do not essentially differ from the ordinary buildings. Only the temple of
Apollo Hietros at the Western temenos of Olbia and, to a lesser degree, the temple at the Southern temenos, in terms
of their dimensions and plan, can be compared with synchronous examples of the monumental sacral architecture
of the West Pontic poleis (Fig. 1, 8–10). Exactly these had a stone entablature and, very probably, were covered with
decorated tiled roofs.
The purpose of the other antae buildings may be guessed only through indirect signs. The construction of the “sanctuary
of Aphrodite” on the Berezan (Fig. 1, 1; 2) hardly can have served as a treasury of the temenos because of its isolated
situation at a separate fenced area. However the almost square plan of the internal rooms and the untypical of the Archaic
temples correlation between the length and width of the Berezan (E-1), Nymphaion (Fig. 1, 5; 3; 4) and Phanagorian
(Fig. 1, 6) buildings do not exclude their use for some other public needs.

The here presented Google Map was created to incorporate 84 buildings analyzed in the Master thesis of Miltiades Kylindreas entitled “The tetrastyle prostyle temple in relation with the distyle in antis oikos during the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Periods”, which was submitted as partial fulfillment for his Master in Classical Archaeology at the University of Athens in 2015. The Dipylon team contributed in the creation of the digital map.

Ο παρών χάρτης Google δημιουργήθηκε για να συμπεριλάβει 84 οικοδομήματα, τα οποία εξετάστηκαν στην διπλωματική εργασία του Μιλτιάδη Κυλινδρέα με τίτλο «Ο τετράστυλος πρόστυλος ναός σε σχέση με τον δίστυλο εν παραστάσι οίκο κατά την Αρχαϊκή, Κλασική και Ελληνιστική περίοδο», η οποία εκπονήθηκε στο πλαίσιο της περάτωσης του Μεταπτυχιακού Διπλώματος ειδίκευσής του στην Κλασική Αρχαιολογία στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών το 2015. Η ομάδα του Διπύλου συνέβαλε στη δημιουργία του ψηφιακού χάρτη.

The 2020 Samos, M7.0 earthquake was characterized by an unusual bi-modal-type distribution of damage: limited damage in the nearfield (especially northern Samos coast) and serious localized damage in multi-story buildings in the far field (İzmir area). This pattern is not consistent with the typical distribution of isoseismal lines, and it seems not to represent an isolated effect; the 2014 Samothraki-Gökçeada M6.9 earthquake, for example, may in fact represent a parallel, though at smaller scale. For this reason, the damage pattern of the Samos earthquake may characterize historical earthquakes in the wider region, and perhaps explain, among others, some apparently large meizoseismal areas of historical earthquakes. Furthermore, the fact that damage in a part of the İzmir area occurred under moderate background acceleration has important implications for various ancient, long-period structures, especially monumental Greek and Roman multi-block columns and temples. These structures are highly resistant to seismic loads and difficult to fail under common earthquakes. However, evidence from the İzmir area indicates that, under certain conditions, common background accelerations can be highly amplified and leave their traces in such structures, for example in the Heraion temple at Samos.

A couple of years ago, a broad study of ancient temples and oracles in Greece was published by M. Ranieri in 2014 [1]. In this interesting work, Ranieri describes a very special behaviour of the orientation for the majority of the studied temples, by identifying the diagonals of the temples to be oriented, mainly, towards one of the cardinal points. Furthermore, he establishes that the dimensions of each temple obeys a condition related to a Pythagorean triangle, as already identified in a previous study. [2]

This paper offers a collection of generally neglected Hellenistic epigrams and some literary and epigraphic evidence that attest to the worship of Aphrodite as a patron deity of navigation. The goddess' temples were often coastal not because they were places where "sacred prostitution" was practiced but rather because of Aphrodite's association with the sea and her role as a patron of seafaring.  The protection she offered was to anyone who sailed, including the navy and traders, and is attested throughout the Mediterranean, from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods.  Further, the texts examined here reveal a metaphorical link between Aphrodite's role as patron of navigation and her role as a goddess of sexuality.

S.,Y. Raptopoulos, Report on the Damages caused by Earthquake to the Monuments of Ancient Corinth, 1905: Architectural Heritage and Public Servants in Early 20th Century Greece:
The proposal of a Greek Engineer , P. Dimitropoulos, in Early 20th C. Greece, to the Greek Archaeological Service, concerning two monuments of Ancient Corinth (Peirene fountain and the Temple of Apollo), in spite of the fact that it was written in a hurry, faces the conservation and architectural stability issues with a sharp eye and a clear view: Dimitropoulos’ file, including text and designs, also stands as the handy reference to the type of work (excavation, conservation, stabilization of these two monuments) carried out by the Greek Archaeological Service and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

A couple of years ago, a broad study of ancient temples and oracles in Greece was published by M. Ranieri in 2014 [1]. In this interesting work, Ranieri describes a very special behaviour of the orientation for the majority of the studied temples, by identifying the diagonals of the temples to be oriented, mainly, towards one of the cardinal points. Furthermore, he establishes that the dimensions of each temple obeys a condition related to a Pythagorean triangle, as already identified in a previous study. [2]