Preview
Creation Year
1978
Image ID
DH.010
Subcollection
DH: Delphi
Abstract
A view of the Sanctuary of Athena from above, looking over the Doric and Massilian Treasuries (left), and the Tholos (right). The three standing columns of the tholos, as well as the stone resting atop them, are resconstructions done in 1938.
Description
This view looks upon the central area of the Sanctuary of Athena from the hillside to the North. Cut off in the image on the left side is the Doric Treasury, with the fully pictured Treasury of the Messilians and Romans directly beside it. Further to the right, with three upright columns, is the tholos. The Messalian Treasury, also known as the Treasury of Massaliots or the Aeolic Treasury, was constructed by the Greek colonists of Massalia, modern Marseille, to commemorate a victory over Carthaginian or Roman adversaries in the 6th century BC. It was incredibly ornate, and, like other Treasuries at Delphi, housed sacred offerings made by that state. Pausanias, in his writings, mentions this treasury specifically and the presence of bronze votive offerings within it. The tholos is more mysterious, and we do not know its purpose or which deity it was dedicated to. It was constructed in 390 BCE, and was the first circular, peristyle tholos of its kind. It was composed of 20 doric columns, with an entrance facing South. At the top sat two rows of metopes, comprising 80 panels altogether. The three columns visible in the image, along with the entablature resting atop them, are reconstructions dating from 1938.
Image Notes
Creation date unknown. Photograph processed July 1978. Notes written on the slide or index: Tholos.
Image Format
35 mm slide
Geographic Reference
Delfoi, Greece
Keywords
Stone, Ashlar, Masonry, Massalian, Treasury, Tholos, Reconstructed, Mountains, Fourth Century BC, Classical Period, Sanctuary of Athena at Delphi
Image Location
Rights Statement
