A tholos (pl. ''tholoi''), from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

θόλος, meaning "dome"), in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

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 ...

(Ancient Greek:ὁ μονόπτερος from the

Polytonic Greek orthography has used a variety of diacritics starting in the Hellenistic period. The more complex polytonic orthography ( el, πολυτονικό σύστημα γραφής, translit=polytonikó sýstīma grafī́s), which includes fiv ...

: 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 cur ...

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 suc ...

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 mainland ...

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 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 ...

. 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, O ...

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 E ...

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 with Tholos File:Delphi, Greece - panoramio.jpg, The

. 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 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 ...

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 The Forum Boarium (, it, Foro Boario) was the cattle '' forum venalium'' of ancient Rome. It was located on a level piece of land near the Tiber between the Capitoline, the Palatine and Aventine hills. As the site of the original docks of R ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. File:Serapeum_(Pozzuoli)_-2.jpg, The

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

. 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 p ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, 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 The Mahabodhi Temple (literally: "Great Awakening Temple") or the Mahābodhi Mahāvihāra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but rebuilt and restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, marking the location where the Buddha i ...

in Bodh Gaya 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 Bh ...

. These circular-type temples were also found in later rock-hewn caves such as

Tulja Caves Tulja Caves (Tulja Lena) are located beyond the Shivneri hill, about 4km to the west of Junnar, India. Other caves surrounding the city of Junnar are: Manmodi Caves, Shivneri Caves and Lenyadri caves. The cave has circular Chaitya hall surroun ...

or Guntupalli. It has been suggested that these circular structures with colonnades may have originated with the Greek circular Tholos temple, as in the

, 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

Panthéon The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

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,

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 monastery, Petra.

References

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