The Temple of Apollo ( mt, Tempju t'Apollo) was 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 ...

in the city of Melite, in modern Mdina,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was dedicated to

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 ...

, the god of the sun and music. The temple was built in the 2nd century AD, and it overlooked a semi-circular

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. The temple's ruins were discovered in the 18th century, and many architectural fragments were dispersed among private collections or reworked into new sculptures. Parts of the temple's

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 ...

still exist, having been rediscovered in 2002.

History and architecture

The Temple of Apollo might have been built on the site of an earlier

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...

sacred structure. It is believed to have been built in the 2nd century AD, and an inscription recording a private benefactor paying for the construction of parts of the temple was discovered in 1747. The temple was built out of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

, and it had a tetrastyle portico with Ionic columns, raised on a

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

. It overlooked a semi-circular theatre. The temple's architecture was influenced by the Carthaginian style, as it also resembled the style popular in

Roman North Africa Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...

. If still in use by the 4th-century, the temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire, when the Christian Emperors issued edicts prohibiting all non-Christian worship and sanctuaries.

Remains

Some remains of the temple were discovered in 1710, and marble blocks from temple were taken and sculpted into altars and decorative elements for various houses and churches, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina, St. Paul's Grotto in Rabat and the Franciscan Church of St Mary of Jesus and the Church of the Holy Souls in Valletta. More ruins of the temple and the nearby theatre were discovered near St. Peter's Monastery in Mdina in 1747. These remains included marble pillars, capitals, cornices and blocks, as well as an inscription recording the temple's construction. Another inscription recording the construction of a temple was found near the same monastery in 1868, and although the name of the deity to whom this temple was dedicated to is lost, it is possible to have originated from the Temple of Apollo. In ''A hand book, or guide, for strangers visiting Malta'', written by Thomas MacGill in 1839, it is mentioned that "not a vestige of he templeis now visible". The archaeologist Antonio Annetto Caruana, writing in 1882, recorded that some of the remains discovered in 1710 and 1747 were in private collections, including that of Mr. Sant Fournier. In March 2002, a wall forming part of the temple's

was discovered during a public works project in Villegaignon Street, and it was subsequently excavated by the Archaeology Services Cooperative.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Mdina Mdina Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Malta Temples in Malta Marble buildings 2nd-century religious buildings and structures 1747 archaeological discoveries 2002 archaeological discoveries Destroyed temples Demolished buildings and structures in Malta Melite

History and architecture

Remains

See also

Further reading

References

Bibliography