English: The Sanctuary of Poseidon.

The History of the Sanctuary.

Sounion, the sacred point of the Athenians (Odyssey, c 278)

Homer testifies to the sacredness of the area at least from the 8th century B.C. In the Archaic period (7th – 6th cent. B.C.) the sanctuary was thriving, though lacking monumental arrangement. At the end of that period the construction of a monumental temple of limestone began, which was destroyed by the Persians in 480 B.C. before being completed. Plenty of votive objects were found buried in depositors, gathered there following the destruction. The temple was rebuilt on the foundations of the previous one around 444-440 B.C. In the Classical and Hellenistic times (5th – 2nd cent. B.C.) the sanctuary was frequently visited. A grand four-yearly festival was organized, officials sailing there in a sacred ship, as in the sanctuary of Delos island. With the decline of Greek religion it was abandoned and the temple gradually decayed.

The Buildings of the Sanctuary. The sacred precinct of Poseidon, occupying the highest area in the fortress, is defined by a wall, on a surface of around 5000 m2 leveled with artificial filling. The sanctuary was entered through a monumental gateway at the NE. The most important building is the temple of Poseidon in the south part of the sanctuary, while two porticoes occupy the NW. The gateway is an oblong building of limestone and marble (13.35x9.25 m). A pair of columns on each of the open short sides, in combination with two intervening pillars, formed three entrance-exit passages. The two lateral ones 1.12 m wide were intended for pedestrians and the middle one, 2.20 m wide with a slopping floor for vehicles. A nearby small building may have served as a guard room. Right to the west extends the north portico (38.05x10.70 m) built with the material of the destroyed first temple. On the façade 9 columns of the Doric order are assumed to have been standing. An interior colonnade of 6 columns, of which the foundation is preserved, divided it to two aisles. A little later the west portico was added (21.15x5.85 m) with no interior colonnade. The porticos were intended to shelter the worshippers and trading. The surrounding wall, the gateway and the porticos were erected during the program for the monumental organization of the sanctuary when the temple was built.

The Temple of Poseidon The temple seen today was built between 444-440 B.C. on a terrace constructed from the material of the destroyed (480 B.C.) archaic temple. The new temple (31.12x13.47 m) of local marble from the Agrileza quarries stands on the limestone foundation of the old one, to which presents several similarities. It was surrounded by a Doric colonnade, with six columns on the short and thirteen columns on the long sides. No interior colonnade existed and two columns were added in the doorways of the ante- and rear chambers. Palmette antefixes crowned the gable roof. At least the east pediment (on the entrance side) was decorated with statues, only one of a sitting woman missing the head surviving. On the same side a relief frieze was running on the top of the interior of the colonnade. On the Parian marble frieze slabs (now in the Lavrion and in the National Archaeological Museum) scenes of the Centaur battle, the Giant battle and the deeds of Theseus are sculpted, an allegory for the victory of the Greeks led by the Athenians against the Persians and for the superiority of the Athenian democracy over the eastern monarchy. The existence of the frieze and the several other features associate the temple of Poseidon with the ones of Hephaestus (“Theseion”) at the Athenian agora, Ares at Acharnes and Nemesis at Rhamnous, all four attributed to the same architect.

Text: Inscription at the archaeological site (Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports – 2nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquity).