The Temple of

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= ...

Zoster is an

ancient Greek temple Greek temples ( grc, ναός, naós, dwelling, semantically distinct from Latin , "temple") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, ...

, the remains of which are located at Vouliagmeni in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Location and discovery

The Temple was uncovered when children from the Vouliagmeni Orphanage were playing on what is now known as the Astir Beach.Interpretation information located at the Temple, Astir Beach The site now lies sunken, at the back of the Beach, and is surrounded by a lawn and hedges. The Temple is almost at sea level, and so is often flooded outside the summer months. The inscriptions found on the ruins confirm that the site is the Temple of Apollo Zoster. Excavations were undertaken by the archaeologists K Kourouniotes and M Pittidis during 1926–7. This confirmed references in the ancient literary sources: Pausanias mentions that this was the location of the most important sanctuary of the

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

Aixōnídes Halaí Halae Aexonides or Halai Aixonides ( grc, Ἁλαὶ Αἰξωνίδες), also known as Aexonides Halae or Aixonides Halai (Αἰξωνίδες Ἁλαί), was a deme of ancient Attica, a little south of Aexone. It derived its name from its salt-w ...

( el, Αἰξωνίδες Ἁλαί),Pausanias, I, 31,1 in other words, the Saltfields of Aixōnē. This ancient deme included the modern areas of Voula and Vouliagmeni. The Temple sits on the middle tongue of a three-tongued

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...

which was once famously known in antiquity as Cape Zoster.Barber, R., “Blue Guide Greece”, published by A & C Black, 1987, Herodotus writes that, after the battle of Salamis, the Persians mistook the rocks of the headland for Greek ships.Herodotus, VIII, 107

History

Pausanias believed that in this location Leto, who was pregnant by

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

, loosened her gilt belt, or zoster, as she was being chased by an angry

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

. Leto believed that she was about to give birth to the twins known as

and

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

. Pausanias described it in the 2nd century: : At Zoster (Girdle) n Attikaon the coast is an altar to Athena, as well as to Apollon, to Artemis and to Leto. The story is that Leto did not give birth to her children here, but loosened her girdle with a view to her delivery, and the place received its name from this incident.Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 31. 2 (trans. Jones) The Temple was founded in the sixth century BC, the Archaic Period. It is of rectangular construction, 10.8m by 6.00m, and has a sekos and an adyton. The floor of the Temple "is a unique and fine construction of big, rectangular slabs." The sekos is separated from the adyton by a wall which was built in a later phase, in the fourth century BC. Inside the sekos are preserved: * Three bases on which the cult statues of Leto, Apollo and Artemis were standing. Two of the bases preserve the carved inscriptions "HALAIES ANETHESAN". This means that the citizens of the deme of Halai Axonides offered these statues to the worshipped deities. * The marble

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monar ...

of the Temple's

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. * The marble

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

bearing an inscription that refers to the repair of the temple during the fourth century BC, when Polystratos was priest of the temple. The peristyle was added during the fourth century BC, comprising a colonnade around the temple, which consisted of four columns along the narrow sides of the Temple, and six columns along the longer side of the Temple. In front of the Temple stands the base of a large rectangular altar measuring 4.25m by 2.25m. At the north-east end of the Temple is a square two-stepped base on which a votive

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

probably stood. During the Christian period, after the

Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church ...

, the walls of the sekos were prolonged, some repairs took place, and the temple was transformed into a Christian church.

Priest’s House

There is an attendant building of the same period, later enlarged, discovered in 1936 and comprising the priest's house or a pilgrim's hostel.

Gallery

File:Temple of Apollo Zoster, Vouliagmeni.jpg, The Temple of Apollo Zoster after landscaping and drainage works, Vouliagmeni, Attica File:Temple of Apollo Zoster, view of the Sekos.jpg, View of the sekos, Temple of Apollo Zoster File:Temple of Apollo Zoster, marble altar.jpg, Marble altar, Temple of Apollo Zoster File:Temple of Apollo Zoster, marble throne of the priest.jpg, Marble throne of the priest, Temple of Apollo Zoster

References

External links