Preview
Creation Year
1978
Image ID
DH.015
Subcollection
DH: Delphi
Abstract
Remaining columns of the original Temple in the Sanctuary of Athena. Built in the early 5th century BCE, this was the first temple in the sanctuary and was completely ruined by 373 BCE due to rockfall and earthquakes.
Description
View of the only standing columns of the Old Temple of Athena, the first structure in the sanctuary. It was constructed in the early 5th century BCE, and dedicated to Athena Pronoia (foresight), for which the sanctuary is also named. A Doric peripteral hexastyle structure, it was built over an older structure dating from the 7th century. During the First Sacred War in 480 BCE, when the Persians were invading Delphi, a rockfall struck them as they drew near, deciding the battle in favor of the Greeks and damaging the temple. When an earthquake struck Delphi in 373 BCE, it was completely ruined. Excavations in the early 1900s uncovered 15 columns and the stylobate, but another rockfall in 1905 destroyed everything but the three columns pictured. These columns form the northeast corner of the temple, and are constructed from tufa.
Image Notes
Creation date unknown. Photograph processed July 1978. Notes written on the slide or index: Old Athena Pronoia.
Image Format
35 mm slide
Geographic Reference
Delfoi, Greece
Keywords
Ruins, Temple, Columns, Old Temple of Athena at Delphi, Athena, Fifth Century BC, Classical Period, Sanctuary of Athena at Delphi
Image Location
Rights Statement
