A tholos (pl. ''tholoi''), from Ancient Greek θόλος, meaning "dome"), in Latin tholus (pl. ''tholi''), is an architectural feature that was widely used in the classical world. It is a round structure, usually built upon a couple of steps (a podium), with a ring of columns supporting a domed roof. It differs from a

monopteros A monopteros (Ancient Greek: , from the Polytonic: μόνος, 'only, single, alone', and , 'wing') is a circular colonnade supporting a roof but without any walls. Unlike a tholos (in its wider sense as a circular building), it does not have w ...

(Ancient Greek:ὁ μονόπτερος from the Polytonic: μόνος, ''only, single, alone'', and , ''wing''), a circular

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

supporting a roof but without any walls, which therefore does not have a

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...

. It is not to be confused with the

tholos tomb A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi; from Greek θολωτός τάφος, θολωτοί τάφοι, "domed tombs"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by corbelling, the superposition of su ...

s (or "beehive tombs") of Late

Bronze Age Greece Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainlan ...

Classical world

Greece

In Greece, the tholos is a round temple of Greek

peripteral 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''), crea ...

design completely encircled by a colonnade. A famous tholos can be seen in Delphi, the Tholos of Delphi. It has been dated to 370–360 BC. Its role remains unclear. The

Philippeion The Philippeion ( el, Φιλιππεῖον) in the Altis of Olympia was an Ionic circular memorial in limestone and marble, a tholos, which contained chryselephantine (ivory and gold) statues of Philip's family: himself, Alexander the Great, ...

in the

Altis Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ολυμπία ; grc, Ὀλυμπία ), officially Archaia Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Αρχαία Ολυμπία; grc, Ἀρχαία Ὀλυμπία, links=no; "Ancient Olympia"), is a small town in ...

of Olympia was an Ionic circular memorial in limestone and marble, a tholos, which contained chryselephantine (ivory and gold) statues of Philip's family; himself,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, Olympias,

Amyntas III Amyntas III (Greek: Αμύντας Γ΄ της Μακεδονίας) (420 – 370 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia in 393 BC and again from 392 to 370 BC. He was the son of Arrhidaeus and grandson of Amyntas, one of the sons ...

and Eurydice I. File:Plan Delphi Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia.svg, Delphi

Temple of Athena Pronaia The Temple of Athena Pronaia was a temple at the ancient site of Delphi, in the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, a group of buildings comprising temples and treasuries as well as the famous Tholos of Delphi. There were in fact three successive temples ...

with Tholos File:Delphi, Greece - panoramio.jpg, The Tholos of Delphi. 370–360 BC File:Reconstruction of section of tholos of Epidaurus. Wellcome L0011572.jpg, Section of the Tholos of

Epidauros Epidaurus ( gr, Ἐπίδαυρος) was a small city ('' polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: '' Palaia Epidavros'' and '' Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to ...

File:Θόλος Αρχαίας Αγοράς 1149.jpg, Remains of the Tholos of Athens File:Tholos Olympie.JPG, The

, in Olympia

Italy

In Roman cities they could often be found in the center of the

macellum A macellum (plural: ''macella''; ''makellon'') is an ancient Roman indoor market building that sold mostly provisions (especially meat and fish). The building normally sat alongside the forum and basilica, providing a place in which a market cou ...

(market), where they might have been where fish were sold. Other uses for the central tholos have been suggested, such as the place where official weights and measures were held for reference or as shrines to the gods of the market place. Some macella had a water fountain or water feature in the centre of their courtyard instead of a tholos structure. File:Rome.Hercules Victor.01.JPG,

Temple of Hercules Victor The Temple of Hercules Victor ('Hercules the Winner') ( it, Tempio di Ercole Vincitore) or Hercules Olivarius ((Hercules the Olive Branch Bearear) is a Roman temple in Piazza Bocca della Verità in the area of the Forum Boarium near the Tiber in ...

, in the Forum Boarium in Rome. File:Serapeum_(Pozzuoli)_-2.jpg, The

at Pozzuoli. A tholos can be seen in the center.

India

Some of the earliest free-standing temples in India are thought to have been of a circular type, as the

Bairat Temple Bairat Temple is a freestanding Buddhist temple, a Chaityagriha, located about a mile southwest of the city Viratnagar, Rajasthan, India, on a hill locally called "Bijak-ki-Pahari" ("Hill of the Inscription"). The temple is of a circular type, ...

Bairat Viratnagar previously known as Bairat (IAST: ) or Bairath (IAST: ) is a town in northern Jaipur district of Rajasthan, India. History Ancient era According to Huen Tsang, visitor to China, Tonk was under Bairath State or Viratnagar pre ...

, Rajasthan, formed of a central stupa surrounded by a circular colonnade and an enclosing wall, built during the time of Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

and near which were found several

Minor Rock Edicts The Minor Rock Edicts of Ashoka (r.269-233 BCE) are rock inscriptions which form the earliest part of the Edicts of Ashoka, and predate Ashoka's Major Rock Edicts. These are the first edicts in the Indian language of Emperor Ashoka, written in th ...

also built the Mahabodhi Temple in

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, ...

circa 250 BCE, also a circular structure, in order to protect the Bodhi tree. Representations of this early temple structure are found on a 100 BCE relief from the stupa railing at Bhārhut, as well as in

Sanchi Sanchi is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometres from Raisen town, district headquarter and north-east of Bho ...

. These circular-type temples were also found in later rock-hewn caves such as Tulja Caves or Guntupalli. It has been suggested that these circular structures with colonnades may have originated with the Greek circular Tholos temple, as in the Tholos of Delphi, but circular wooden huts in India are a more likely source of inspiration.

Neo-Classical

The upper part of the

US Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

is a tholos. It houses the lighting at the very top of the Dome and serves as a base for the

Statue of Freedom The ''Statue of Freedom'', also known as ''Armed Freedom'' or simply ''Freedom'', is a bronze statue designed by Thomas Crawford (1814–1857) that, since 1863, has crowned the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Originall ...

. The Panthéon in Paris is also topped by a tholos. File:Tholos (27583224585).jpg, US Capitol tholos. File:U.S. Capitol Tholos.JPG, US Capitol tholos. File:Paris-Pantheon-Facade.jpg, Panthéon in Paris. File:Dome of Panthéon de Paris - 2012-05-28.jpg, Panthéon in Paris.

Others

File:Ad-Deir (Monastery) Petra Jordan1461.jpg, A central tholos in

Ad Deir Ad Deir ("The Monastery"; Arabic: الدير ), also spelled ad-Dayr and el-Deir, is a monumental building carved out of rock in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra. The Deir was probably carved out of the rock in the mid-first century AD. Argua ...

monastery, Petra.

References

{{Reflist Ancient Greek buildings and structures Ancient Roman buildings and structures