The Temple of Athena Pronaia was a temple at the ancient site of

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

, in the Sanctuary of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

Pronaia, a group of buildings comprising temples and treasuries as well as the famous

Tholos of Delphi The Tholos of Delphi is among the ancient structures of the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia in Delphi. The circular temple, a tholos, shares the immediate site with other ancient foundations of the Temple of Athena Pronaia, all located less than a ...

. There were in fact three successive temples built at the site. The earlier temples , referred to as A and B, were built in the 7th and 6th centuries BC respectively and were made of porous stone; a third temple was built of limestone in the 4th century BC, although it is not certain that it actually was dedicated to Athena this time.

Description

The sanctuary of Athena "Pronaia" (also spelled Pronaea, meaning 'the one before' the temple of Apollo), was the first one met by the visitor who came to Delphi on foot from the eastern road, hence its name. Excavations have proved that at this spot lay an older cult site, possibly dedicated to

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenog ...

(i.e., the Earth). Most of the Mycenaean figurines exhibited in the

Delphi Archaeological Museum Delphi Archaeological museum (Modern Greek : ''Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δελφών'') is one of the principal museums of Greece and one of the most visited. It is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture (Ephorate of Antiquities o ...

, including the notable seated figure on a tripod, were discovered here, and it has been suggested that they were ex-votos.

Temple A

The first temple dedicated to Athena was made of grey-shaded porous stone and was constructed in the 7th century BC. It was probably the earliest Doric temple, of which twelve columns have been preserved, along with the foundations and the

crepidoma Crepidoma is an architectural term for part of the structure of ancient Greek buildings. The crepidoma is the multilevel platform on which the superstructure of the building is erected. The crepidoma usually has three levels. Each level typic ...

and

stylobate In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate ( el, στυλοβάτης) is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the floor of the temple). The platform was built on a level ...

. The columns were crowned by low capitals and bore shallow flutings. In the first half of the 6th century BC, this temple was destroyed, possibly by an earthquake.Demangel, G., Daux, G.,(1923), Le sanctuaire d'Athéna Pronaia, Fasc.I: Les temples de tuf, Paris

Temple B

After the destruction of temple A another temple, now called temple B, was erected on the same spot. The date of its construction is estimated at c. 510 BC, and it probably formed part of the building program of the

Alcmaeonids The Alcmaeonidae or Alcmaeonids ( grc-gre, Ἀλκμαιωνίδαι ; Attic: ) were a wealthy and powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the mythological Alcmaeon, the great-grandson of Nest ...

for the restoration of the monuments of Delphi. This second temple (13.25 × 27.46 m) was also made of porous stone. It did not have an

opisthodomos An opisthodomos (ὀπισθόδομος, 'back room') can refer to either the rear room of an ancient Greek temple or to the inner shrine, also called the adyton ('not to be entered'). The confusion arises from the lack of agreement in ancient i ...

; its

pteron Pteron ( Gr. ''πτερον'' – ''pteron'' — ''wing'') is an architectural term used by Pliny the Elder for the peristyle of the tomb of Mausolus, which was raised on a lofty podium, and so differed from an ordinary peristyle raised only on a s ...

consisted of 12 columns on the long sides and 6 columns on the narrow ones. Its

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 were made of clay, decorated with figures; the

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

s and

acroteria An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at th ...

also bore figures, such as Athena (pediment) and

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

(side acroteria). The temple was excavated towards the end of the " Grande Fouille". Fifteen columns were still standing in 1905, when a rock fall destroyed them. Scholars think that perhaps this second temple was never actually destroyed or abandoned but continued to function after the construction of the third temple. The marble fragments of a head of Athena discovered and displayed now at the museum are attributed to the cult statue of Athena, which would have been situated in 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 ...

of the temple.

Temple C

A third temple, built of limestone in the 4th c. BC, was possibly not dedicated to Athena, but rather to Artemis. Scholars are led to this supposition by the

testimony In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. La ...

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

, who mentions that one of the temples in the sanctuary of Pronaea was dedicated to Artemis. However, the traditional view remains in favour of Athena. Its construction is dated to ca. 360 BC, and it was located at the west of the terrace supporting the entire complex of the "Marmaria". Although only the foundations are extant, its plan has been fully restored: it was based on a crepidoma consisting of three levels and had a prostyle ''

in antis An anta (pl. antæ, antae, or antas; Latin, possibly from ''ante'', "before" or "in front of"), or sometimes parastas (pl. parastades), is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek ...

'' consisting of six columns on the façade. It also had a cella and a vestibule. The cella was separated from the

pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

by a gate in the

Ionian order 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 o ...

. Along the rear wall were arrayed statues on bases, possibly some of a later date. It seems that the temple bore no sculpted decoration, with the exception of the acroteria, which have not, however, been preserved. A possible reason therefore could be that the temple lay very close to the tholos, built a couple of decades earlier and bearing a striking decoration, so the architect of temple C wanted to create a contrast.

describes the temple in the 2nd century: : "When you enter the city f Delphoiyou see temples in a row. The first of them was in ruins . . . the fourth is called the temple of Athena Pronoia (Forethought). Of its two images, the one in the fore-temple is a votive offering of the Massiliots, and is larger than the one inside the temple. The Massiliots are a colony of Phokaia in Ionia . . . The votive offering of the Massiliots is of bronze. The gold shield given to Athena Pronoia by Kroisos the Lydian was said by the Delphians to have been stolen by Philomelos."Pausanias, Description of Greece 10. 8. 6 (trans. Jones) The temple could not have functioned to a later date than the 4th or 5th century, when all pagan shrines were closed during 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 ...

References

Bibliography

*Bommelaer J.-F. (1997). Guide de Delphes. Marmaria, le sanctuaire d’Athéna à Delphes,. Paris. *Bommelaer, J.-F., Laroche, D., (1991). Guide de Delphes. Le site. Paris, p. 65-68. *Demangel, G., Daux, G.,(1923), Le sanctuaire d'Athéna Pronaia, Fasc.I: Les temples de tuf, Paris *Kolonia, R. (2006). The archaeological museum of Delphi, Athens

External links

{{World Heritage Sites in Greece Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Delphi Temples of Athena 8th-century BC religious buildings and structures 6th-century BC religious buildings and structures 4th-century BC religious buildings and structures