![Pompei 5058](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Pompei_5058.jpg)
The Temple of Apollo, also known as the Sanctuary of Apollo, is a
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of Ro ...
built in 120 BC and dedicated to the Greek and Roman god
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
in the ancient Roman town of
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
, southern Italy.
The sanctuary was a public space influenced by Roman colonists to be dedicated to Greco-Roman religion and culture.
Architecture in the Forum
Located in the forum (market place) and facing the northern side of the town, it is the town's most important religious building. It was one of the two earliest temples built in Pompeii, the other being the Temple of Minerva and Hercules, which was near the forum.
The cult of Apollo, imported from Greece, was widespread in
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
, and from excavations in the temple's vicinity has been shown to have been present in Pompeii since the 6th century BC. The sanctuary's present appearance dates from its 2nd-century BC rebuild, and a further reconstruction to repair damage from the
62 earthquake, in which a large part of the temple collapsed and repairs which were left incomplete at the time of the eruption.
The temple, in the center of a sacred enclosure, was surrounded on all four sides by a wide series of
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
columns from
Nocera, originally grooved and with
Ionic capitals, that were being replaced with
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
columns and
Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
capitals painted in yellow, red and dark blue.
![Pompeii Regio 07 Insula 07 Temple of Apollo plan 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Pompeii_Regio_07_Insula_07_Temple_of_Apollo_plan_01.jpg)
The temple itself, a
peripteros
A peripteros (a peripteral building, grc-gre, περίπτερος) is a type of ancient Greek or Roman temple surrounded by a portico with columns. It is surrounded by a colonnade (''pteron'') on all four sides of the ''cella'' (''naos''), creat ...
with 48
Ionic column
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...
s, was on a high podium and entered up an imposing set of steps, in a fusion of Greek and Italic architectural ideas.
Unusually, the
cella
A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek temple, Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extende ...
is sited further back with respect to the
peristyle
In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=fou ...
. In front of the steps may still be seen a white marble altar on a
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
base, with a Latin inscription giving the names of the
quattuorviri who dedicated it. To side of the steps is an Ionic column that supported a
sundial
A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
and an inscribed plaque that was donated by a pair of magistrates, who are recorded to have donated another plaque and seat at th
Triangular Forum
![Temple of Apollo (7238817402)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Temple_of_Apollo_%287238817402%29.jpg)
In the side of the perimeter wall of the Temple of Apollo, facing onto the town's
forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
, a niche is extracted containing the ''mensa ponderaria''; the table with the town's official measures, to guarantee the citizen against fraudulent shopkeepers and merchandise.
Excavations
Excavation of the temple first began in February of 1817 and was mistakenly identified as the Temple of Venus
and then as the
Temple of Mercury
The Temple of Mercury was a sanctuary in Ancient Rome on the Aventine Hill, which was dedicated to Mercury (mythology), god Mercury. Samuel Ball Platner, s.v. Aedes Mercurii, in A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London, Oxford Universi ...
when fragments of a marble statue and two bronze arms positioned to fire an arrow were recovered.
The fragments belong to the temple's deities – one representing Apollo, the other a bust of Diana – both of which would have been facing the columns of the portico. They are in display in th
J. Paul Getty Museumin Malibu, California, though copies of two of them have been placed where the originals were found.
The elegant
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
of
metope
In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a bu ...
s and
triglyph
Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...
s resting on the columns was transformed into a continuous frieze with
griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...
s,
festoon
A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...
s and foliage. Today, the remains of the temple front appear as they originally did, since almost all of this transformation in plaster has disappeared.
See also
*
List of Ancient Roman temples
This is a list of ancient Roman temples, built during antiquity by the people of ancient Rome or peoples belonging to the Roman Empire. Roman temples were dedicated to divinities from the Roman pantheon.
Substantial remains
Most of the be ...
Bibliography
* Zanker, Paul. 1998. Pompeii: public and private life.
* Beard, Mary. 2008. The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found
* Boschi, Federica; Rescigno, Carlo (2021). “The sanctuary of Apollo in Pompeii: new geophysical and archaeological investigations.” GROM Documenting Archeology.
* Cooley, Alison E; Cooley, M.G.L.. 2014. Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook.
* Van Andringa, William. "Statues in the Temples of Pompeii." ''Historical and Religious Memory in the Ancient World''(2012): 83.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
2nd-century BC establishments
2nd-century BC religious buildings and structures